


Middle of the Night

by KirryLovesNarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Depressed Harry, Friends to Lovers, Hiatus, Leaked photos, M/M, Paparazzi, Pet & Love, Protective Niall, Sad Harry, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirryLovesNarry/pseuds/KirryLovesNarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's cloud is hacked, his pictures are posted on the internet and he shuts down. Niall to the rescue!</p><p>Posted on Tumblr first - I combined some of the parts from the original posting since they were so short. (I normally write tiny drabbles so this whole actual story thing is new to me)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Niall had been calling Harry at least once per hour for the last two days. He had left _literally_ one hundred text messages. Harry hadn’t answered once. Niall tried Skype, but of course Harry wasn’t logged in. Finally, Niall called everyone he knew and trusted in LA. Only one person had a key to Harry’s house, but that one person was actually in New York and refused to cut his trip short to check on his friend and client. “He just needs a little time, Niall. Give him some space and he’ll come around.” Except he wasn’t coming around. No one, not his mom, his sister nor his agent had spoken to him in those two days and that was unusual for Harry. He needed a constant lifeline, reassurance that he was loving and being loved. Harry wasn’t letting anyone in to love him right now.

Niall did the only thing he could. He got on a plane in the middle of the night in coach and flew across the Atlantic and the United States to see his best mate. By the time he got to Harry’s house it was 5 in the afternoon. He knocked, half hoping Harry would be awake enough to the world to hear him and answer. He didn’t of course. Niall pulled out his key to Harry’s house and let himself in. He dropped off his little carry-on bag in the entry way and slowly made his way upstairs, listening for sounds of Harry anywhere in the house.

Niall found Harry in bed. At first Niall thought he was asleep but as he walked around the bed he saw Harry’s green eyes staring at the wall behind him. He didn’t acknowledge Niall. Niall wasn’t even sure he saw him honestly so he tip toed forward until he was at the edge of the bed and knelt down in front of Harry’s face. Finally Harry’s eyes were on him. They weren’t smiling like they usually are in Niall’s presence. They were quiet and dark like someone had turned off the lights and wanted to shoo away the neighbors. Niall sighed, stood up and slowly pushed Harry away from the ledge of the bed so he could get in. Harry moved rather easily, still with no words or acknowledgement of Niall. Niall climbed in the bed, fully clothed like Harry, and slid his right arm under Harry’s neck. He wrapped his left arm around Harry’s waist and pulled him in close so they were practically touching from toe to forehead. Harry curled himself in, shoving his head under Niall’s, securely under his neck. Harry felt so small. Harry never felt small to Niall. He was taller, broader, more muscular than Niall. Niall felt safe and protected in Harry’s arms normally. Now he wanted more than anything for Harry to feel that way with him. He wanted Harry to feel loved and secure.

When he woke up in the morning, first Niall noticed that Harry was in the exact same position he’d fallen asleep in. This wasn’t good for Harry and his back was sure to be sore. The second thing Niall noticed was the smell. At first Niall thought it was Harry himself, and although he didn’t smell great, after a few deep sniffs Niall realized there was something rotting in the room. Although Niall didn’t want to move and disturb Harry, he realized it was better for them both to get up. He started petting Harry, running his fingers through his hair, down his back and patting his bum. Niall thought it wasn’t working and he’d need to be more aggressive but as he shifted his body, he saw Harry’s eyes looking up at him. Niall’s face went soft and he whispered, “morning, Pet.”

Harry sighed, screwed his eyes shut and then finally opened them looking a bit more alive. He certainly wasn’t going to be performing anything anytime soon but Niall was sure he could at least get Harry talking.

Harry blinked a few times and then said, “morning Ni,” in a deep, scratchy voice that clearly hadn’t been used in the past two days.

Niall couldn’t help but smile at those two words. He shifted, pulling his arm out from under Harry and brushed his hair back. “How about a shower and some breakfast?” Niall asked, continuing to keep his voice quiet.

Harry groaned, closed his eyes and leaned away from Niall. “Don’t wanna,” he said.

Niall was conflicted. He didn’t want to force Harry to do anything but he knew a shower and food would help him feel better. He figured he could at least start breakfast and go from there. “I’ll bring you breakfast in bed then Pet. I’ll be back soon.” Niall leaned over and pecked Harry’s forehead before climbing out of bed. He glanced around to try to find the source of the smell but when he couldn’t immediately he figured he’d do a thorough clean later.

Niall was pleasantly surprised by the amount of food in Harry’s kitchen. It was stocked full of fresh, frozen and canned goods. Some of the fresh looked a little wilted so Niall assumed Harry must have gone, or sent for, shopping right before _it_ happened. He was able to make Harry a healthy omelet and cut up some fruit to go with it. Niall also made Harry some tea and brought orange juice with him as he climbed the stairs slowly. He didn’t love stairs in general with his knee injury, going up or down, but with a tray of food, he was even more cautious. When Niall got back to Harry’s room, he found his friend sitting up and sweeping his eyes around the room, as though looking for something. “Here’s some breakfast, Pet. Can I help you find something?”

Harry looked surprised at Niall’s words. He looked at the breakfast and back at Niall in disbelief. “What? Why? You don’t have to do this Niall,” Harry said just above a whisper with a frown on his face.

“I want to, Pet.” Niall realized he was calling Harry ‘Pet’ a lot but he had to enforce the love he felt for his friend to help dig him out of this depression. “Now, will you eat this for me? I put a lot of effort into it for you,” Niall teased. At that, he saw tears fall down Harry’s face and he rushed over, barely putting the tray down right side up before he had his hands on Harry’s arms. “Pet? What? Did I say something? I’m sorry. I just want you to eat Love!”

“You, you shou-shouldn’t, be doiing thi-things for me,” Harry stuttered and whined, breathing not at all under control. He was getting a little hysterical and Niall was getting more and more nervous and scared for Harry’s mental state. “I don’t deseeeeerve it!” Harry added, throwing his head down onto Niall’s shoulder, fisting and unfisting his blankets over and over.

Niall wrapped Harry up as tight as he could and said strongly enough that hopefully Harry would listen, “stop it Harry. You deserve the world. You haven’t done a single damn thing wrong. If I want to make you breakfast, I will. If I want to clean your whole fucking house, I’m going to do it because I love you Pet. No one in this world should ever make you feel this way. NO. ONE,” Niall finished his rant with a harsh tone, but continued to hold Harry as close as possible to his chest. He would shove Harry right _into_ his chest if he could find a way.

Niall continued to hold a sobbing Harry for at least a half hour. Finally he decided they needed to move past this part and patted Harry’s back saying, “OK Pet. You’ve had a good cry. Now you’re going to eat.”

Harry looked up at Niall with red eyes, a red nose and a blotchy face. He swallowed and nodded, agreeing to eat the food Niall made for him. Niall stood up, picked up the tray and brought it to Harry, setting it on his own lap to keep it steady. He handed Harry the tea first, even though it was cold, hoping it would at least soothe him a bit. Harry didn’t seem to mind, or potentially even notice, that the tea was cold. He held it in his hands like it was very fragile and sipped it like it was burning hot. Niall let him slurp about half the cup slowly before reaching over and taking it carefully from Harry’s hands. He replaced the tea with a fork and nudged the omelet and fruit closer to Harry. He looked at both items, as though trying to decipher what they were for several moments. Finally he dug his fork into a piece of melon and slowly chewed it.

Once he’d eaten what Niall considered enough, he pulled away the tray, handed back the orange juice and got up to organize. Harry watched Niall move the tray to his desk and start picking up around his room. Harry wanted to object but he knew there was no point. Niall was going to take care of him regardless of what he said or deserved. Niall found the source of the smell, leftovers from what seemed to be a nice meal at one of LAs classy restaurants and brought it downstairs, along with the remains of Harry’s breakfast. When Niall got back he went straight to Harry and said, “come on, Pet. Shower time.” Harry groaned and frowned at Niall but he didn’t argue. He slowly got up and followed Niall to his master bathroom.

Niall turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature before turning around to find Harry leaning against the door. Niall moved forward slowly and unbuttoned Harry’s silk shirt. When he pulled it off, Harry visibly shivered but didn’t move otherwise. Niall knelt to undo Harry’s jeans and pull them down. He wasn’t wearing any underwear to remove. Once he carefully picked up each of Harry’s feet to remove the pants fully, Niall stood back up and looked Harry directly in the face. “Do you want to do this on your own or do you want me to join you?”

Harry thought it over and said, “alone please.”

It made Niall nervous but he moved back so Harry could climb in the shower. “Don’t forget to clean your underarms Styles!” Niall joked. Harry didn’t answer him, just climbed into the shower and shoved his face under the water. Niall closed the shower door behind Harry but didn’t leave the room. After about 20 minutes, Niall leaned against the shower door and asked, “Pet? You doing OK? Almost done?” In response, Harry turned off the water and opened the shower door. Niall grabbed a towel and moved in to start drying Harry’s body who didn’t object.

Once he was dry enough, Niall let Harry settle back in bed in his robe. He sat next to him and figured it was time to start fixing things. He asked Harry, “what did the lawyers say?”

Harry barely looked up Niall and just whispered, “I don’t know.”

Niall was mildly alarmed. Why hadn’t Harry spoken to his lawyers yet? “Did Jeff or someone else speak to them for you Pet?” Niall asked softly. Harry just shrugged. Niall’s eyes doubled in size at that answer. He grabbed his cell phone and practically ran out of Harry’s room, heading for the furthest spot on the first floor to make his phone call. He closed the laundry room door behind him and called Jeff.

“Hi Nialler, no I haven’t heard from Harry yet,” Jeff answered, sounding like he was trying to tease Niall for being overprotective of Harry.

Niall answered less teasingly, with a tense-and-to-the-point, “did you at least call his lawyer?”

Jeff paused. He’d never heard Niall angry before and he didn’t know the right way to deal with an angry Niall. “Um, no, I thought Harry would have called them like he did when his mum’s iCloud was hacked. Or they would have called him.”

Niall had to keep himself from yelling, “you fucking imbecile! He’s not answering the phone for US, why didn’t you even think to _check_? Isn’t that your fucking job?” Niall lost control by the end, literally yelling at the top of his lungs. Before he could go on, Niall hung up the phone and started pacing, muttering to himself, “seriously why did Harry hire him? So what he got him a movie? And a big ass solo contract. ANYONE could have done that for Harry. Niall could have walked outside and just asked for the top bidder for Harry. He would have done just as well. Maybe better. Niall stopped pacing and realized he had to stop being mad at Jeff and just handle the situation. He didn’t know Harry’s lawyer’s number but he knew Harry’s personal assistant would have it. He got the number, called the lawyers, and got them to officially order the cease and desist.


	2. Chapter 2

After Niall finishes talking to the lawyer, he calls Harry’s mum, knowing she was just as worried as he had been. “Hi, Anne. I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday,” Niall quickly said.

“Oh love, just tell me you spoke to Harry and he’s OK,” Anne answered.

“I’m in LA. I couldn’t stand that no one could confirm that he was alright. So, yeah, I’m here and he’s,” Niall paused. He wasn’t sure what to say. Harry wasn’t alright. He had shut down almost completely but he couldn’t worry Anne like that. He also couldn’t, and wouldn’t, lie to her. “He’s taking it hard. I, um, I’m not sure exactly how much to push him. I’m making sure he’s taking care of himself though and I’ll deal with all the crap as much as I can.”

“Oh, Niall!“ Anne was crying on the other end. She knew how Harry felt, sort of. He felt exposed and betrayed and not at all safe. The fact was that he felt a lot more than she could imagine right now but she knew Niall was the person he needed right now. “Niall,” she sobbed softly, “thank you for being there for him. You’re his person, you know. He needs you and I just, I’m so thankful for you and how much you love my son.”

Niall is feeling very shy all of a sudden. He was used to a bit of praise and being thanked for doing things he considered normal, but none of it mattered as much as Anne thanking him and praising him for loving and taking care of Harry. Anne being proud of him might just surpass the last Brit One Direction received. Actually that’s a lie. It was _definitely_ more important to him. “Give him my love, Niall. I’ll call Gemma so you don’t have to worry about her. Thank you. Thank you _so_ much, Niall.”

“Um, you’re welcome Anne. But you don’t really need to thank me. I’d do anything for Harry.” Niall found himself biting his lip as he thought of how honest he was being.

“I know, Love. Please keep me updated.”

“Of course. Bye, Anne.” 

When Niall went back upstairs, Harry had pulled the covers over himself and snuggled himself back into bed. “Pet?” Niall asked, to see if Harry was awake. Harry looked up at Niall and gave him a very faint smile. Niall was ecstatic. Normally if he saw such a small smile from Harry he’d be upset and trying to make his friend happy but he knew that this was a big step right now. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through Harry’s still-damp hair.

Niall didn’t want to push Harry but he wanted to help fix the situation. He knew whatever he said he’d have to take slow. “How are you feeling lovely?”

Harry looked up at Niall, silently asking with his eyes why he has to talk. Niall continued to run his hands through Harry’s hair and waited for a response, not letting Harry off the hook. Harry realized but he wasn’t sure what to say. He took a deep breath and said softly, “I guess I’m, um, not great.”

“That’s OK, Love. You don’t have to be great right now. I know this is a big deal. Can you tell me a bit more about how you’re feeling?”

Harry _really_ didn’t want to talk about this. He was in so much pain and he didn’t know if talking could really do him any good. It certainly wouldn’t do any of his friends, family or anyone else associated with him any good. He felt like someone had put him on the Superbowl stage, with the people closest to him, taken away all of their clothes and ridiculed them for any and everything they could. Harry could handle being naked physically. He couldn’t handle his friends and family’s dignity being stripped from them. He couldn’t handle people digging inside and tearing out his heart.

Finally Harry says to Niall, “I feel naked Niall.”

Niall gets under the blankets with Harry so he can feel his warmth. Niall knows more than anything Harry needs someone to love him and tell him this isn’t his fault. He won’t get over this if he doesn’t believe those two things. “Pet, that makes perfect sense. Your life was exposed to the world. I don’t blame you for feeling naked. I just,” Niall again questioned his word choice. He knew he needed to go slow so Harry wouldn’t go further back into his shell. “Love, I know you don’t believe this, and we can talk about this, but it _isn’t_ your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong Babe.”

Harry had the blankets pulled almost over his head but he pulled them back so he could glare at Niall. “And whose fault do _think_ it is Niall?” Harry says spitefully.

“Harry, that’s pretty clear to me. It’s the hacker’s fault. It’s the terrible, awful person who thought it was OK to, not just invade your privacy, but to then share it with the entire freaking world. _You_ did not do that. You took pictures and videos of your friends and family that were meant to be for your memories. For _our_ memories. How can you be blamed for that sweetheart?” Niall truly didn’t understand where Harry was coming from and he desperately needed to in order to fix this for him. He was getting angry just thinking about it again, but he knew he had to stay calm. He needed his voice to be soothing to compel Harry to come out and talk.

Harry sat up and said, “I shouldn’t have had my pictures on a cloud Niall. I was the _idiot_ who never bothered to make sure his cloud wasn’t attached to his pictures on his phone. An idiot who _already_ had his _mother’s_ cloud hacked because he couldn’t protect her.” Harry’s voice was getting louder, ”an idiot who took pictures of people he slept with _naked_ only to have the entire FUCKING WORLD SEE IT!” Harry had big tears rolling down his face and he started sobbing uncontrollably as he finished his confessions. Niall thought Harry was done and tried to move in to wrap him up but Harry moved away. He crawled to the other side of his bed and asked in a heart-wrenchingly sad voice, “why are you here? Why don’t you hate me? You were in those photos. Your privacy was invaded too.” 

Niall couldn’t help the tears from streaming down his face too. He knew Harry was upset; how couldn’t he be? But he had no idea he felt this way. Niall was having trouble keeping his own breaths even as he watched Harry continue his freak out. Niall pushed the stress down inside of himself. He took the anguish and pain he was feeling and stuffed it into a little box that he shoved so far inside himself, he wasn’t sure it would ever be able to come out. Niall then kneed across the bed and very slowly, delicately, reached his arms around Harry and pulled him into his chest. Harry’s head crashed into the skin above Niall’s heart. Niall held him close, not sure what he could possibly say to make anything better for Harry. He leaned in close to Harry’s ear so he could speak softly. The only thing he could think of, the only truth he had was, “Pet, I love you. I forgive you for not knowing you were uploading to a cloud. I _don’t_ blame you for them on the internet now. I blame the assholes who thought this was OK. The jerks who didn’t think your privacy was worth anything. You honestly mean the world to me and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to make this better for you. You can be upset for yourself or for anyone else if you want but you are not _allowed_ to be upset over me. I will take whatever happens and deal with it, Love. Please, please, just let me help you.”

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Niall wasn’t angry with him. He didn’t blame him for ruining his life. He wanted to _help_ him. How the hell did Harry get so lucky to find someone as amazing as Niall? He pulled himself into Niall’s lap so he could wrap him up in the safety net of his body. Harry wasn’t sure what to say but he knew Niall understood now. Niall knew how he was feeling and why he was feeling it. Of course Harry also knew that Niall was wrong. It _was_ Harry’s fault. He should have learned his lesson. He should have protected himself and his loved ones better. He didn’t deserve Niall’s comfort but he decided he wasn’t going to turn it away. He needed Niall.

Niall ran his hands up and down Harry’s back and occasionally through his hair, trying to get him to settle back down after his Niall-inspired outburst. How could Niall be so stupid? He should have known why Harry was so upset. He should have realized that Harry would blame himself for hurting his friends and family. Yes, it sucked that he took naked pictures of several people but he didn’t even realize he _had_ a cloud. Harry will learn from this. Of course what Harry learns may be to hide himself further. To never take pictures or videos. Niall doesn’t know what he’ll do if that’s what Harry takes away from this. He loves his camera so much. And he has thousands of pictures. What if he starts to hate the pictures he has? Niall is starting to feel anxiety bubbling inside of him, so he stuffs it back down into the tiny box. He can’t think about these things right now. He needs to think about getting Harry through this then they’ll deal with the future. If Niall has to buy Harry a new camera for every holiday for the rest of his life, he will.

Niall’s phone rings and he reaches over, leaning away from Harry to check the caller ID. It’s Harry’s lawyer so Niall removes himself from Harry, who whines and curls up in a ball, and walks into the hallway. “I’ll be right back, Pet. I just need to take this call.” 

When Niall walked back in several minutes later, Harry sat up and asked, “who was that?”

“Your lawyer.”

Harry’s eyes expanded. He didn’t realize Niall had reached out. “What did he want? Did you call him? How did he know you were with me?”

“I called him earlier Pet. I just wanted to make sure we started the legal action as soon as possible. He just had a couple questions for me. Don’t worry, it’s being taken care of.”

Harry had been watching Niall carefully, trying to gauge if there were any half-truths in what he was saying. When Niall finished, Harry felt like he was telling the full story. He looked down at his hand, wrapped in the blanket and asked, “what can he do at this point? They’re out there. Sure, the hacker can get in trouble but those photos and videos are now public domain.”

Niall settled back in the bed next to Harry, reaching out and taking his hand. “First of all, Love, not all of the pictures have been released, so he can track down the hacker and make sure the rest do not come out. Second of all, he can take down the originals the hacker uploaded and hopefully cut down on distribution. Also, will you let me tweet something from your account?”

Harry bit his lip. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Niall leaned in, lifted Harry’s chin with his finger tips and looked him in the eyes as he said, “if you let me say something from your account, your fans will become enraged and start deleting their copies and condemning those that display them. It will cut down on re-tweets and re-blogs and re-instagraming them all. Please, Pet. Let me do this. Or would you prefer I have management do it?”

Harry raised his eyes to Niall’s and exclaimed quickly, “no! Not management! They always say stupid stuff on my account.” Harry continued to bite his lip, bringing his fingers up to tuck in between his teeth as well. Niall continued to hold Harry’s other hand, waiting patiently for Harry to think this through. “OK,” Harry said. “You can do it. But can I see it before you send it?”

“Of course, Harry. You can proof it.”

Niall spent about two hours working on the perfect wording of the tweet. Harry drifted in and out of sleep, occasionally looking over Niall’s shoulder. Niall got frustrated several times and even researched what other celebrities had tweeted after their invasions of privacy. But Harry wasn’t any celebrity. He was kind and caring. He wouldn’t want to blame individuals. He wouldn’t want to seem weak. So Niall typed over and over trying to get a message that Harry would agree to send. Finally, he showed Harry this tweet: _Thank you for your caring messages. At this time, I ask that you respect my privacy and do not share anything that was hacked from my personal account. Thank you._ It wasn’t very interesting, but it got the point across. Harry just nodded. 

Niall also composed a tweet from his personal account: _to the bastards who did this, you’re terrible people. to the true fans - thank you for respecting Hs privacy._ He didn’t show this one to Harry. He knew he wouldn’t approve but it was his personal account so Harry had no say.

Now that Niall had started working on getting the actual photographs wiped from the internet, he needed to focus on getting his Harry back. “Harry, Love, I called your mum and she reached out to Gemma. Do you want to talk to anyone else? Or do you want me to talk to anyone for you? The lads? Your dad?”

Harry looks at his phone on the side table. He had turned it off three days ago. He’d been out to dinner with friends, had taken some leftovers for lunch the next day when it happened. Harry got bombarded outside the restaurant, paparazzi surrounding him and yelling ridiculous questions: “Did you leak these photos?” “Did you do it to get back at Kendall for dumping you?” “Are you bisexual?” “Do your band mates know?” “Are you going to prosecute whoever hacked these photos from your account?” Harry didn’t say a word, rushed to his car, and even though he probably shouldn’t have, drove himself home. The whole way his phone wouldn’t stop ringing and buzzing. Harry turned it off without looking at a single message or contact name.

Now, in the present, Harry realizes he needs to talk to some people. His management, his family, but most of all the people who were affected, those he’d had photos of in his phone. Harry leaned over Niall and picked up his phone, taking his time turning it on. Once it was on, it just kept vibrating and buzzing with each missed message. Harry stared at all of the names. Some of those people were affected. Some were probably mad at him. Some might have been calling to offer sympathy. He saw Niall’s name flash over and over and felt incredibly guilty that he hadn’t answered him. Finally, Harry started listening to his voice messages on speakerphone. The first couple were Jeff and his mom, concerned about him. Then there was management and his lawyer. Each message Harry listened to and then deleted it. His face only showing a little guilt at having worried people. Niall was trying to hide his facial expressions, especially when Jeff and management called. Harry needed better support than they’d offered. He deserved better.

“Harry Fucking Styles,” this message started from Kendall Jenner. “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you brain damaged? Seriously!? After the photos leaked of us from your mom’s cloud, you couldn’t get rid if your OWN cloud? You’re a selfish, arrogant-”

“No! Enough of this shit!” Niall exclaimed. He grabbed the phone, stopped the voicemail from playing, pulled open a drawer to the side of Harry’s bed, turned off the phone, and threw it in the drawer. “I’m buying you a new phone with a new number and you’re never going to deal with that again!“

Of course Niall hadn’t stopped the voicemail soon enough. Harry had started sobbing again. “She’s, she’s right! I should have known better!” Niall pulled Harry back in and they resumed their previous comforting position. Niall was sitting up slightly with Harry’s arms around his waist, face buried in his chest. Niall would tell Harry a thousand times it wasn’t his fault if that’s what he needed but Niall knew his love and security was more important right now. So instead of speaking, Niall started singing softly, “Little Things.” He knew it was corny but that’s what Harry needed right now. By the second verse Harry’s sobs had become whimpers and he started wiping his tear-stained face with the sheet. By the end of the song, he was asleep.

Niall was exhausted. He wanted to sleep too but he also knew he had to finish listening to Harry’s messages. Harry wasn’t going to be able to do that but Niall wanted to make a list of the nice messages Harry got so he could listen to them or at least respond back to those people. And every mean, nasty message like Kendall’s was being erased and that person was ending up on Niall’s no-call list. Niall would strive to never speak to or support those people again. Unless, of course, it was to yell at them.

So Niall grabbed his phone, earbuds, and Harry’s phone. He plugged his earbuds into Harry’s phone and brought up a note app on his phone. Immediately he wrote “mum” and started the messages. He also started a second column with “Kendall” and a frowning face above her name. He put a heart above the mum column. The first couple messages were from Harry’s “team"- the ones who should have been fixing this mess. Niall didn’t know where to write their names. They weren’t comforting but they weren’t harsh either. He put them in the heart column but with stars next to them. Harry would need follow up with them after all. Next there was a message from Louis! Immediately Niall wrote Louis in the heart column and prayed Tommo wasn’t being a twat. Thank goodness he wasn’t: _“Hi Harry. I heard. I’m sorry man. Let me know if I can do anything. I can bring Freddie by if that helps. Call me if you want.”_ Niall also added Grimmy, Liam, Gemma, Lou, Sam, Matty, Des, Robin, and Bobby to the heart list. His dad’s message made Niall tear up. Really, they all did. Harry had some amazing, loving people in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

When Harry wakes up next, Niall isn’t in bed with him anymore. For a second he thinks Niall left him, gave up on him and went back to his own life. Then he sees Niall’s bag in the corner, his shoes by the door, and his shirt from the night before over the chair. OK, so Niall is still there. Now what should Harry do? Should he go back to sleep? Take a minute and go wee, stretch his legs? Actually, that sounded good. Harry rolls out of bed, stretches and goes to the bathroom. When he’s done, he checks his room again and sees that Niall hasn’t returned so he ventures downstairs for the first time in two days. The first day when he was upset, he went downstairs to load up on food, but that was it. He went through his leftovers from dinner, a pint of ice cream and a bunch of bananas before Niall arrived. As Harry takes his last step, he realizes Niall must be grilling because it smells amazing. He is lead by his nose to the back porch to see Niall standing over the grill in shorts and a t-shirt. Harry walks slowly and, when Niall doesn’t seem to notice him, leans in on his back, propping his chin on Niall’s shoulder. “Smells good,” he says softly.

“Hi, Pet,” Niall says with a smile. He didn’t expect Harry to come downstairs on his own. “Hungry?” Harry nods into Niall’s shoulder instead of answering out loud. “Good, Love. It’s going to be ready soon. Can you make a salad for us?”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be surprised. Niall would eat greens and though he won’t admit it, he actually liked vegetables a lot, but he also teased Harry about his love of healthy food, often purposefully avoiding them when they ate together. Harry felt a little hungry. He should really be starving with how little he’d eaten but he still wasn’t ready for a big meal like Niall had prepared. However, he wasn’t going to argue with Niall when he’d put so much effort into taking care of him. If Niall wanted Harry to make a salad, he would load it up with nuts and dried fruit to make it extra tasty. 

Harry had to pick through his produce to find food that still looked and smelled fresh but he had enough for a good size salad with a variety of colors and textures. Niall was walking in with the steaks as Harry was plating the salad. “Good timing,” Harry said presenting his work.

Niall smiled, “looks good Pet.”

“That looks good too,” Harry said nodding at the meat in Niall’s hands. “I don’t know how much I’ll be able to eat but I’ll definitely try.”

“That’s all I ever ask of you,” Niall said with a wink. Harry smiled at how supportive Niall was to him. “Do you want to eat at the table or would you prefer to eat in the living room and maybe watch a movie or a match?” Normally Harry liked to eat at the table. He liked to spend time just talking, without the TV to distract them, but talking wasn’t something he was doing a lot right now, so Niall wanted to offer an alternative.

Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing. He looked between the table and the living room, eventually nodding to the living room, carrying the salads with him. Niall put the steaks on their plates and then asked, “what would you like to drink Harry?”

“Water, please,” Harry said.

When Niall came back with their silverware and drinks, he picked up the remote and asked, “what are you in the mood for Pet?”

“I don’t care,” Harry said, not looking up from his food that he was actually enjoying quite a bit.

“Course not,” Niall mumbled. He scrolled through the TV guide until he landed on “Friends” reruns. It was “The One with Phoebe’s Cookies” where Monica tries to figure out Phoebe’s grandmother’s secret cookie recipe. Harry actually laughs out loud twice during the episode and Niall is feeling so much better about his friend. He ate, he laughed, he even seemed a bit relaxed on the couch. So much so, Niall decided to cozy up a bit and threw his legs over Harry’s giant spider legs.

“What are you doing Niall?” Harry asked about the legs over his lap.

“Just getting comfy. Do you mind?” Niall asked.

“Of course not,” Harry said with a small smile, rubbing his hand over Niall’s knee. They continued to watch TV for a little while until Harry murmured, “I should call people back.”

Niall looked up at Harry’s face, judging whether he really seemed ready to speak to anyone else. He brushed his hand over Harry’s hair. He didn’t look thrilled but then Niall remembered his happy list and figured it couldn’t hurt to talk to those people. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his own phone, handing it to Harry and said, “call your mum.”

Harry took the phone carefully, trying to build up the courage to speak to someone other than Niall. He looked from the phone to Niall’s eyes to see strength, an encouragement there telling him he could do this. Harry leaned in and kissed Niall’s cheek as he stood up, taking the phone with him to the kitchen.

He leaned against the counter and called his mother. “Harry!” she exclaimed as soon as she answered. “I’ve been so worried! I mean, not completely worried because I know Niall is there and if I can’t be there, he’s who’d I want to be with you.”

Harry laughed at his mom’s rambling and then finally, when she gave him a chance, answered, “yes, Niall is doing a great job taking care of me. Made me shower and everything. He also handed me his phone and told me you were the first person I should call. Not that you weren’t going to be but just, you know, he’s a good egg.”

Anne laughed at Harry’s responsive rambling. “He _is_ , a _very_ good egg. I’m glad you have him.”

“Me too,” Harry said softly. His voice got even softer when he said, “I don’t deserve him.”

“Harry Edward Styles,” Anne said forcefully, “I don’t want to hear you say such a thing. That boy loves you and you are not going to hurt him by pulling away now.”

Harry smiled when his mother told him that Niall loved him. He loved Niall too. So much. “I’m not pulling away. Anymore. Niall wouldn’t stand for it.”

“Smart too, that one.”

“One of the smartest people I know,” Harry said tenderly.

“You must be talking about me,” Niall said with a smirk, walking into the kitchen. He didn’t want to interrupt Harry’s call with his mom, but he wanted to put the leftover food away. He didn’t realize Harry was in here when he’d packed it up. He hadn’t heard him talking until he approached the entryway.

Harry smiled at Niall and said, “like I’d admit something like that to you.”

Niall laughed, raised his eye brows briefly, and said, “you don’t have to admit it. I know it’s true. Hi Anne,” he said leaning into Harry so Anne could hear him through the phone.

“Hi Love!” Anne yelled back at Harry.

Harry pulled the phone from his ear, stinking his finger in instead, then frowned at Niall, “she said ‘hi love’ actually, she _yelled_  ‘hi love’ at you. I think she misses you.”

Niall put his arm around Harry’s waist after he’d put the food away and said, into the phone over Harry’s shoulder, “I miss you too, Anne. I’ll come visit soon.”

Harry looked back and forth between the phone and Niall. “If you two want to talk, I can leave,” Harry said pointing over his shoulder at the entryway. 

Niall pecked his cheek and said, “no, Pet, talk to your mom. You need a little mummy-time. I’m going to go change. I’ll be back down in a few minutes, OK?”

Harry’s eyes got slightly bigger when he realized Niall was leaving him. “Hurry back?” he asked quietly.

“Will do, Pet.” Niall rushed upstairs, changed into pajama pants and brushed his teeth and then ran back down so he could be there when Harry needed him.

After Harry finished talking to his mom, he found Niall sprawled across the couch, still watching “Friends” on the large TV. Niall was laughing out loud occasionally, his eyes finally flickering to Harry as he cautiously entered the room.

“How was the chat with your mum?” Niall asked, muting the TV and sitting up to make room.

Harry settled on the couch next to Niall, pressing his thigh against Niall’s even though there was room for up to 3 other people on the furniture. Niall reacted by putting his arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulling him in casually. “It was good,” Harry said. “We didn’t really talk about _it_  even though I know she wanted to. She talked about what she’s been doing and we talked a bit about you. She really likes you,” Harry said looking up as Niall. He smiled softly and let his head fall onto Niall’s shoulder

“I mean, she’s your mother. Of course she likes me. You’re practically the same person, Harry,” Niall said with a chuckle. “It’s why Gemma loves me too.”

“And here I thought it was just because you’re great.” Harry laughed quietly and then then continued slowly, “and smart and sweet and patient, a great singer I've heard...”

“OK, you can stop, Pet. My head won’t fit in this room if you go on. Well, I mean, unless you want to talk about how fit you think I am,” Niall said pushing his head back into Harry’s.

Harry bit his lip and smiled. “Of course you’re fit Niall. You don’t need me to tell you that.”

“Oh, but I do,” Niall said. “When I hear it from fans or my family, it doesn’t always feel sincere but _you_  Harry Styles would never lie to me. So if you say I’m fit, I’m going to believe you.” 

Harry was blushing at Niall’s words then he leaned away as a thought occurred to him. “Is this your way of trying to get me to believe everything you say?”

Niall started laughing, with his body shaking slightly with the energy behind it. He turned to Harry, leaned in close, lifted his chin with his pointer finger and said in all-seriousness, “you _should_ believe everything I say Harry. I would never lead you astray.” At that, Niall leaned in and kissed Harry’s forehead. “And now I say you should try listening to some more of your messages.”

Harry groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “No, Niall. They were terrible. I thought you said I wouldn’t have to listen to those any more.” He turned to look back at Niall with fear in his eyes.

“Harry, Pet,” Niall said. “Do you trust me, Love?”

Harry trusted Niall. He trusted Niall so much, probably too much. If Niall wanted Harry to go on TV to talk about this whole fiasco, he’d do it. If Niall wanted Harry to throw away his phone, he’d do it. “Yes,” Harry said, “always.”

Niall’s smile could light up the room. “Thank you,” he said simply. Then he reached over Harry and picked up his phone Harry had left on the coffee table. He open the note he had tracked Harry’s messages on so he could remember who Harry was going to listen to now. Niall stood up and grabbed Harry’s phone from the dining room where he’d left it earlier in day. He brought it to Harry and said, “you can listen to all of the messages left. Don’t go through your text messages yet. I haven’t looked through them all.”

The first message that played was from Liam: “ _Harry, mate. I’m so sorry those self-centered asses did this to you. You don’t deserve this. You’re one of the sweetest people I know. Regardless of what’s released, I’ll stand by you. Just tell me what you want me to do. No questions asked, I’ll do it.”_  Harry had tears forming in his eyes. Liam had sound so confident and sure in his message. He had obvious love for his band mate.

“You don’t have to call him back right now, Harry,” Niall said, touching Harry’s wrist. “I have a list of people for you to call back so you don’t need to think about that.” 

Harry nodded at Niall and started the next message: “ _Harry, son, I just wanted to reach out and tell you I’m thinking of you. I know you have a lot of friends and a great family that you can reach out to to help you right now but just know that I’m part of that group. Your relationship with Niall has effectively made you my son and I would do anything for you that I would do for him. I don’t know what I can do but if there is anything, really, anything at all, please tell me. Or tell Niall. He should really call his da more often anyway. (laughter) I love you Harry. If you want to come hide in Ireland for awhile we don’t have many of those camera people. My house is always open to you. Bye son.”_  

At the end of this message both Harry and Niall had tears falling openly down their faces. Niall was so proud of his dad for calling Harry and for the amazing support he offered. Niall couldn’t think of anything better he could have said. Harry seemed to think the same thing. He looked up at Niall with a big smile on his face and he opened his arms for Niall to crawl into his lap and hug him with all of his strength. They sat in their embrace for about two minutes until Niall finally pulled back, looking into Harry’s eyes and saying, “he’s right. You’re our family and we’ll do _anything_ for our family.”

Niall pulled back from Harry and said gently, “Bobby might be right Harry. Maybe we should get out of LA for awhile. Go somewhere you can go outside. Ireland if you want, your mum, a boat in the middle of the ocean?” Niall suggested. He got a glare for his last suggestion. “OK, no boat. Got it. Although if we took a boat in the middle of no where without camera-hog celebrities around, you’d be fine. But of course we can go where ever you want.”

Harry sighed. He knew Niall was right and they should get out of Los Angeles where the paparazzi was probably right outside his gate. He was scared to take that first step though. He wasn’t ready to leave the safety of his home and he certainly wasn’t ready for Niall to leave him. Then Harry realized Niall said “we” when talking about getting out of here. “You’d come with me?” Harry asked, looking at Niall through his eyelashes.

Niall looked in Harry’s eyes, surprised by the question. “Of course you dummy! I’m not leaving you until you kick me out!”

“What about your work? The golf thing and your writing and all that?”

“They can manage the ‘golf thing’ just fine without me. They’re probably happier I’m butting out for a bit honestly and you know I can write anywhere. Hey! Maybe this is our chance to actually write something together! Of course, then we’d have to choose who gets it on their album,” Niall said with a grin.

“OK. Just, you know, don’t feel like you have to, you know, put you life on hold for me or anything,” Harry fumbled trying to find the right words.

“Pet, I’m here because I want to be and because you don’t seem to mind having me around. So I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, got it?”

Harry smiled and wrapped his arms back around Niall. “Got it,” he whispered into his ear.

The pair decided to watch some more TV for awhile until Niall got a work-related call he decided he shouldn’t ignore. When he came back to the couch after his call was over, he found Harry fast asleep, spread out the length of the furniture, facing the back cushions. Niall debated what to do. Harry shouldn’t sleep on the couch but he looked relaxed for the first time since Niall showed up. Niall couldn’t bear to move him or leave him so he did the only thing that made sense, he snuggled up behind him. He softly pushed Harry’s bum forward so there was room for his own and then laid behind Harry like a second skin, wrapping his arms around H’s waist. Niall snuggled his head into the back of Harry’s neck and fell asleep rather quickly.

Niall got a rude awakening. He was on the floor and his bum hurt. He looked up and saw Harry’s gigantic green eyes staring down at him. “I’m so sorry!” he said several times. Niall wasn’t responding since his head was still foggy with sleep so Harry slid off the couch to the space in front of Niall, putting his hands in either side of Niall's face. “Are you OK Bub?” Harry asked concerned.

Niall just nodded and blinked a few times until he could say, “m'fine, ‘arry.” He followed that with a yawn and pushed Harry aside to get back on the couch. Harry wasn’t sure what to do, so he just sat on the floor until Niall said, “you comin’ back? I don’t have a blanket. I need you.“ Harry scrambled back onto the couch as quickly as his clumsy legs would let him. He matched Niall’s previous position against his back, arms around his waist but with his head propped above Niall’s instead of against his neck.


	4. Chapter 4

The next time Niall wakes up, he feels like a teddy bear. He is being held close to Harry’s chest and squeezed like he’s the only thing keeping Harry safe. Niall is starting to sweat after being awake for a couple minutes, but he hears, and feels, Harry’s slow, regular breaths and Niall can’t bear to wake him up. So he thinks. He thinks about how Harry is feeling. He thinks about what he would say to the hackers if he had a chance. He thinks about where they should go. He pointedly avoids thinking about his own feelings. He’s not thinking about Harry’s warm body all wrapped around his and how perfect it feels. He’s not thinking about the feelings he felt at not being able to reach Harry for those two days and he’s definitely not thinking about his morning wood. Definitely not.

Niall heard about the hacked photos from Deo. He’d been at home watching a terribly one-sided football game when Deo strolled into Niall’s living room uninvited. He was clearly studying Niall’s face and Niall was pointedly ignoring him until he gave a reason for his surprise visit, or you know, said hi. He didn’t say hi. He said, “you don’t know do you?” Niall didn’t know what Deo was talking about until a phone got shoved too close to his eyes and Deo muttered, “he was hacked.” When Niall was able to focus, he found a picture of Harry, clearly naked, but covered somewhat discreetly by a sheet. It did nothing to hide how happy he was to see the person taking the picture. Niall didn’t know what to say. His first reaction should have been anger. It wasn’t. He could never admit it to anyone but the first emotion Niall had seeing Harry so happy to see someone else, when he was obviously naked, was jealousy. His _second_ emotion was anger and betrayal for Harry. He scrolled through Twitter for a few more minutes before he closed it, vowing not to be part of the problem. If Harry hadn’t shared these pictures with him, Niall wasn’t going to invade his privacy to see them on the internet. Before Niall closed out, he saw the naked picture of Kendall, again with most of her private areas covered. She was sitting on a chair with a blanket wrapped around her, one long, naked leg sticking out along with her arms and the area above her chest. It wasn’t any more scandalous than a modeling photo shoot would be so he’s not sure why she was so mad. Given that she’s a fame whore, she should have been thrilled. Niall also saw a bloke he had never seen before. At least Niall didn’t recognize the naked white bottom. It certainly wasn’t Harry’s or one of their other band mates. Of course some less exciting pictures were posted as well. A Harry selfie, which is actually quite rare and valuable to Niall. A picture of Gemma’s cat Olivia, like that cat needed any more pictures taken of it. He almost stopped following Gemma on Snapchat because of the ridiculous number of cat pictures and videos she posted. Niall could admit to himself he wanted to know what else was released but he felt like he’d be betraying Harry if he went looking for the private pictures so he pretended he had no interest.

Niall shook his head at himself. He needed to be thinking about something beneficial. Like where they were going. Yes! He could come up with a list for Harry to choose from and maybe list out some pros and cons for each location. Niall wished he had his phone to take notes but he wasn’t moving out of Harry’s hold anytime soon so he had to rely on his brain this time.

Ireland. Niall’s family would welcome Harry with open arms. Well, his parents would. Greg would probably ask him all sorts of embarrassing, horrific questions. But Greg could be avoided. Niall had made it home plenty of times without seeing his brother. Of course Harry would want to see Theo. Bobby could kidnap him for a bit though. Not as many paps in Ireland, especially in Niall’s hometown.

Holmes Chapel. Harry’s family is great. Who doesn’t want their mum when they are upset? Gemma could come visit. Harry might become more guilty thinking about their photos becoming exposed. Of course they could reassure him. Back up Niall that it’s not Harry’s fault. Press and fans might expect him to go home though so he wouldn’t really be getting away from anything. He’d still have to hide.

Middle of Fucking No Where. Paradise. Harry loves to swim and run. In paradise, he could do both. Shirtless. Even pant-less. Niall could rent a whole private island. They might just be hiding doing that too… but, shirtless and pant-less hiding! Yes, they could be shirt and pant-less at Harry’s house but it would require more effort. Niall wasn’t going to just suggest Harry run up and down the stairs a few times to get hot and sweaty.

Niall could feel Harry starting to wake up. He was wiggling around and his breathing was becoming a little deeper and irregular. Finally Harry coughed and stretched himself around Niall, rubbing his nose in Niall’s hair. “You better not be rubbing snot in my hair, Harold,” Niall said accusingly.

Harry’s chuckle was deep and gravely, followed by, “I would never do something so scandalous, Ni.” He continued rubbing his nose and started shifting his arms and fingers, dancing them along Niall’s sides.

As Niall caught on to the tickling, he started squirming. “Styles, you keep that up and you’re going to end up with more than your bum hurting!”

Of course Niall was referring to himself falling off the couch hours earlier but Harry laughed out loud as he turned the statement dirty. “What are you going to do with my bum Nialler?”

Niall groaned in response then said, “gonna toss you on it you tosser!”

“No fun!” Harry exclaimed with a frown.

*****************************************************************

Niall wasn’t stupid and he’s done this before so he arranged for car service to and from the airports, hired body guards, and alerted both airports that they would need extra security. Still, he was nervous. This is Harry’s first time leaving the security of his house since the photos were released, since the paparazzi tried to corner him at one of his favorite restaurants.

“Ready, Pet?” Niall asked. Harry was staring into his brown luggage as though he was trying to figure out what it was missing. It wasn’t missing anything. Niall had packed for him and Niall was a meticulous packer, generally.

Harry looked up at Niall and gave him a small smile. “I think so,” he answered unsure. He closed his bag, hiked it up in his shoulder and forced a wider smile on his face for Niall’s benefit. He knew Niall was excited to get him out of the house, to give him some forced-freedom.

As the car started, Harry asked a bit panicked, “did you pack my journal, Niall?”

Niall chuckled and said, “course Love. I know you wouldn’t leave the country without that. It’s on the side so you can find it on the plane quickly.” Niall pointed his chin towards Harry’s luggage on the floor in front of him. Harry smiled back appreciatively .

When the car pulled out of the driveway, it was met with a small crowd of 5 or 6 photographers. Niall had actually expected more. There were about 15 when he’d showed up. He was glad to see the number dwindling. That meant Harry wasn’t front page news anymore. Harry still went pale at the site of them and, even though the windows were tinted, he leaned into Niall pressing his face down so they couldn’t take pictures of him. Niall held Harry’s head to his chest for a minute and then whispered, “they’re gone,” into Harry’s hair.

They were not so lucky at the airport. Apparently when they’d left Harry’s house, the paparazzi had notified their friends that Harry was on the move and at least 10 photographers were waiting for them at the International Terminal. Still, they knew how this worked. They had bodyguards and extra airport security to get them through the crowd physically unharmed. Niall was more worried about the emotional scarring at this point.

Once out of the car with their small luggage, Niall and Harry kept their heads down and stayed in between their bodyguards, letting them guide their movements. The photographers were really pushing today though. Niall felt his claustrophobia kicking in at the lack of space between him and every other person. The only person he wanted close to him was Harry but he was being whisked away in front of him so Niall powered through. He mostly ignored the questions being tossed their way until one stood out. When Niall heard someone ask, “Niall! Are you Harry’s new boy toy?” he froze. His bodyguard stumbled right into him but Niall turned on his heel and sought out the face of the rude person.

Although security was still trying to push him along, Niall walked up to the man and said in as cold a voice as he could manage, “do not _ever_ say that again. I am not a boy toy and Harry does not _have_ a boy toy asshole,” Niall said to the man who questioned him. He then turned to the crowd, “you’re all a bunch of wolves!”

The man was shocked but not shocked enough to stay still. As Niall turned to walk away the man shoved his way in, knocking over a garbage can in the process. “Does that mean you’re _more_ than a boy toy to Harry?” Niall let that question go and kept up with his security so he could finally see Harry again. Harry was keeping his head low and, hopefully, ignoring the questions. Niall assumed he was actually hearing each one and internalizing it until he was alone.

Once they got to a safe area, Niall ran up to Harry and wrapped him in a hug. “They’re wolves, Harry. Don’t think about a single damn thing they said. I know they're hurting your heart but just think about me and this trip and just being you, not super famous you.”

Harry shrunk himself to fit in Niall’s arms and listened to his comforting words, trying to let them warm his body. He couldn’t stop the part of his brain that was replaying their questions and statements over and over: “what else is coming out Harry?” “Have your fans supported you?” “Who was the naked guy exposed in your pictures Harry?” “Was it Niall? Have you two had a thing for awhile? We know he’s been holed up at your house all week!” “Has Kendall said anything to you other than her Tweet?” Harry just kept thinking, “I don’t know. I don’t know. No. No. I don’t know. Oh Niall, why am I doing this to him? Even if he wants to stay with me, he shouldn’t have to put up with this shit. We should have taken separate cars.”

Niall finally hit Harry in the back of the head, leaving Harry’s mouth hanging up in surprise while he rubbed his head. “What’d you do that for?” Harry asked.

“Getting you out if your head. Here,” Niall hands Harry’s his headphones and turns on some music. “Listen to this until we get on the plane at least. It will help.” Harry’s head fills with James Bay’s voice singing “Incomplete" and he sits in the airport chair, closes his eyes and just tries to relax. Niall was right. James definitely has a calming affect. Niall’s hand moving up and down his back definitely helped as well.


	5. Chapter 5

As they got off the plane, Niall’s eyes searched the crowd to see if any paparazzi or fans had figured out where they'd gone. Niall saw no cameras directed at them and no recognition on any faces, so he let himself relax a bit, still keeping his guard up, and reached back to take Harry’s hand. They weren’t being separated here if they didn’t need to be.

They made it to their car and collapsed in the back, exhausted from all the traveling and the stress they’d built up. The car service took them to Bobby’s house and then left them to return the additional body guards to the airport. Basil, Niall’s regular body guard, would stay nearby in case he was needed. Harry looked dead on his feet, so Niall grabbed both of their bags, greeted by Harry’s frowning face, put his hand on Harry’s lower back and guided him to the front door which swung open before they could quite reach it.

“My boys!” Bobby yelled holding both his arms open to welcome them in hugs. Harry smiled gratefully and wrapped himself around Bobby as best he could with Niall getting the other half of his body. They felt Bobby’s kisses on the tops of their heads and pulled away.

“Bobby, thank you so much for letting me stay here,” Harry started.

“Us,” Niall interrupted.

Harry looked at Niall, shrugged, and said, “you’re his son. You're always welcome.”

“So are you,” both Horan men answer simultaneously.

Harry smiled shyly at Niall and his father and said, “thank you,” softly before they all shuffled into the house.

“OK,” Bobby started, “Greg doesn’t know you’re here unless you decide to tell him and I’m picking up Theo tomorrow at four so Gregory and Denise can have a date night. Theo is staying with us for the night.”

Harry’s smile gets wider when he hears he’s going to get some Theo-time then asks asks aloud, “why doesn’t Greg know we’re here?"

Bobby looked at Niall to answer with a raised eyebrow. “You know how Greg can be sometimes. He doesn’t have a filter and I just don’t want him being like, a pest, you know.” Niall is trying hard not to say that Greg will make Harry feel bad.

Harry knows anyway. “So you’re afraid he’s going to upset me?”

Niall screws up his face trying to find an answer that won’t be a lie. “I just don’t want to hang out with him right now. Maybe later in the trip.” Harry lets it go and just collapses on the couch.

Niall takes their bags to his room and follows Bobby into the kitchen. Bobby works on making tea while Niall puts together some quick snacks. They work silently but they’re both happy and comfortable together. Before leaving the kitchen, Niall leans into his dad and whispers, “thanks for everything Da.” Bobby just crinkles his eyes and smiles at his son.

When Niall brings their snacks to the living room, he finds Harry fast asleep. Niall isn’t surprised and wants to let him sleep, but he needs to eat first. Niall puts the food and drinks on the table and settles next to Harry on the couch. He puts one hand behind Harry’s back and starts rubbing circles there while he leans in to whisper in his ear, “wake up Pet. I need you to eat something and then you can go to the bedroom to sleep.” Niall takes his other hand and brushes the hair back from Harry’s forehead, hoping one of these things will help the man in front of him stir. After about 30 seconds, Harry finally opens his eyes, offers Niall a sleepy smile and leans forward to eat. Niall keeps his hand moving around on Harry’s back, offering constant comfort for his friend.

Since Niall is eating one-handed, he naturally drops some food in his lap. Harry glances over at the jam on Niall’s jeans and without thought, runs his pointer and middle fingers over Niall’s thigh, picking up the remains and sucking them into his mouth. Niall is speechless. It was hot and Niall struggles to keep his hand on Harry’s back and not focus on the intimate action that just occurred. Unfortunately, even later when they’re in Niall’s childhood bed, Niall can’t stop thinking about Harry’s long fingers being sucked into his mouth. Niall is trying desperately not to think about Harry sucking anything else into his mouth. Or what those long fingers and giant hands are capable of doing. Luckily, Harry is asleep so Niall takes the opportunity to shower away the thoughts in his head, trying to focus only on their plans for Ireland.

Harry and Niall slept in the next day. They’d both slept more in the last week than they had the previous month combined. The exhaustion was partially due to the jet lag and partially due to the continued stress of the hacking situation on both of their minds. When Niall woke up, he found himself bundled into Harry’s arms, the way a boyfriend holds their partner or even a parent holds their child. Harry’s arms were wrapped around him protectively, while Niall’s head laid on his chest, his hands bundled up between them. Niall didn’t remember falling back into Harry after his shower the night before. In fact, he distinctly remembered facing away from Harry, hoping that not seeing or feeling him would push away the uncomfortable thoughts he’d been having. So, either Niall unconsciously decided in the middle of the night that he needed to be touching Harry, or Harry craved his warmth and comfort. Niall looked up from Harry’s broad chest to see his green eyes looking down at him.

“Morning, Love,” Harry said with his incredibly sexy, deep, scratchy morning voice.

Niall cleared his throat and said, “morning Harry.” He debated his next action. He could burrow further into Harry’s hold or be responsible and get out of bed and start their day. He really, really didn’t want to leave. However, he became aware of his morning excitement and decided it was better for them both if he got up. “Do you know what time it is?” Niall asked as he rolled away from his warm body pillow.

“Almost noon,” Harry said, following Niall’s actions and sitting up in bed.

When they went to the dining room, Bobby was sitting at the table reading the newspaper with sandwiches plated for their lunch. “Good morning, Bobby,” Harry said, settling down in one of the chairs and pulling a sandwich to himself. "Thank you for making lunch for us."

"Not a problem," Bobby answered, finishing the article he was reading before putting the paper down to engage his boys.

Niall went to the kitchen and gathered drinks for them both, offering his father a refill as well. When he came back, they settled into idle chatter. Bobby talked about his work and what was new with the extended family. Niall brought up his golf management company, a charity event he was planning, and touched briefly on his song writing. Harry mostly listened to them both, getting caught up in details he’d missed in their short phone conversations. Both Bobby and Niall tried to get Harry to talk about his own adventures, filming the epic movie and his own solo career, but Harry kept changing the subject back to them. Eventually they let it drop and Bobby went to pick up Theo.

Niall and Harry waited for Theo to show up by watching golf on TV. After watching for a few minutes, Harry leaned into Niall and whispered, “golf on TV is boring, Horan.”

Niall dramatically gasped at Harry’s tease and hit his shoulder with the back of his hand. “How _dare_ you Styles! Golf is not boring! This happens to be the 2002 British Open when Ernie-”

Niall is cut off by Harry’s screech, “this isn’t even live!?” Niall can’t help but laugh, laughing so hard he actually fell over onto Harry’s lap. Harry just watched Niall with a big smile on his face, patting his back and shaking his head at his crazy friend who watched 14 year old golf championships for fun.

In the middle of Niall’s laughter, Theo walked in and was very confused by his uncle’s behavior. “What’s going on?!” he exclaimed.

Niall and Harry both froze at the voice, rushed to sit up and run over to Theo. Niall got there first, since he’d been on top of Harry, and swept Theo up into his arms. “Theo!” he yelled excitedly. Theo started laughing uncontrollably along with his Uncle Niall, hugging his neck briefly before he turned and started reaching for Harry. Although Niall was slightly disappointed Theo wanted Harry over him, he was very happy that Theo remembered Harry, even without his long hair.

With Theo reaching out for Harry, Niall turned him around and handed him off. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck and said, “where’s your ‘air ‘arry?”

Bobby and Niall laughed at Theo’s question, Niall patted his back and answered, “he got it cut buddy. Just like you do when your mum cuts your hair.” Theo was frowning at Harry, still trying to pull on his hair even though it was considerably shorter. 

“Do you want me to grow it back?” Harry asked Theo close to his ear.

“Yes, please,” Theo answered politely.

“Then I guess I have to,” Harry said with a smile and a tickle of Theo’s side. “Aw, I’ve missed you Bub.”

“Missed you too,” Theo said automatically. He was probably taught that was the proper response to anyone that said that to him, but it still warmed Harry’s heart.

“We go to the park please?” Theo asked, first looking at Harry, then Uncle Niall and finally Grandpa Bobby.

Bobby was the one who answered, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Buddy. I think your uncles just wanted to hang out with you here.”

Harry looked up at Bobby and said, “actually, I think I’d quite like to go to the park if you don’t mind. I haven’t had a lot of fresh air recently.” Bobby raised his eyebrows in surprise but nodded back agreement at Harry.

“Can I bike?” Theo asked Harry this time.

“You have a bike?” Harry asked confused. Theo was only three so it didn’t seem likely he could ride a bike yet. 

Bobby answered, “he has a tricycle that he keeps here that he rides to the park whenever we visit.”

“Oh! That’s perfect then! I’d love to see your bike Bub!” Harry said to Theo. He put Theo down who immediately ran off in search of his bike.

“Are you sure about this Harry?” Bobby asked uncertainly. “I understand you wanting to get out and this _is_ Ireland, not LA, but you still have fans here.”

Niall, who had been quietly observing the interactions moved in, touching Harry’s arm to answer for him. “We’ll be fine. I’ve got Bas on call so he can hang out at the edge of the park. We can handle a couple fans if it comes to it. And if anyone’s rude, I’ll have Theo sic em,” Niall said with a shrug. Harry pulled Niall into a side hug, which Niall reciprocated. 

Theo came rolling in on his tricycle and asked, “can I hug?” of Niall and Harry.

Niall said, “course Bud!” and knelt down to pick up his now running nephew. Once he was in Niall’s arms, he swung him around and then pulled Harry into a hug around them both. He had Theo facing forward to his chest, with his right arm around his neck, twisted so his left was around Harry’s neck while both of Harry’s arms were around Niall’s waist. It felt a little too perfect to Niall so he kissed Theo’s cheek and pulled away saying, “time to go to the park!”

Harry asked if they needed to go wee before they left and Theo said no but Harry stared at Niall waiting for a response. Niall didn’t realize until he looked up at Harry’s cocked eyebrow, glared at him and said, “no, I, well, actually, yeah.” Niall lowered his glare and went to the bathroom while Harry put on his boots. He was wearing his usual black skinny jeans, a plain white t-shirt and his familiar brown boots. When Niall came back and saw Harry ready to go, he grabbed an extra sweatshirt, threw it at him and said, “welcome to Ireland. We don’t have sun here.” Harry laughed but put the sweatshirt on over his head.

Theo was still ready to go since he had barely walked through the door so they all said goodbye to Bobby and started their walk/ride to the park. It was only two blocks away from the house, so they didn’t have to worry about Theo being able to bike the whole way.

The walk to the park was nice. There were a few kids playing in front yards along the way and several people that Niall greeted but they didn’t stop to chat with anyone. Once they got the park, Theo ran to the playground and immediately started climbing the stairs. They were a little tall for him, but he seemed to manage on his own so despite the fact that Harry wanted to help him, he held back and watched. Niall stood by Harry’s side, arms touching as they watched Theo enjoy the playground for a few minutes. Once he’d climbed the stairs, met a few kids, and slid down the slide, he ran over and pulled both of their hands behind him as he went to the swings. 

“Swing me please!” Theo said with his big innocent angel blue eyes.

Harry had never learned how to say no to those eyes, so he immediately picked Theo up, put him in the swing and started the gentle back and forth motion. Theo just laughed at the movement and at his uncle who stood in front of him making silly faces. “More! More!” Theo would yell occasionally asking to go higher. Harry obliged a bit higher but was cautious about going too high. He knew Theo was only three so he may not be the best judge of swing height. Niall and Harry switched off so Niall could push and Harry could make silly faces for a bit until eventually Theo said, “down now please.” 

Niall stopped the swing, picked up his nephew, brought him to Harry and asked, “what now Bub?”

“Hungry now. Mac n cheese?” Theo asked.

“I think we can arrange that!” Harry said with a giant smile. It was the biggest smile Niall had seen on Harry’s face in the last week. He looked care-free and relaxed, even being out in public. No one approached them for an autograph. No one seemed to be taking sneaky pictures of them from far away and Niall was watching, so was Basil. Harry didn’t seem to be paying attention but that was good. Niall didn’t want him thinking about anything bad that could happen. Niall decided that he’d made the right choice in coming to Ireland.

They walk back into Bobby’s house, a little worn out from the three year old with an abundance of energy but also rejuvenated by his enthusiasm and the fresh air. Harry declares, “I’m going to make dinner!”

Niall says, “No, no you’re not,” rather sternly. “Theo won’t eat the five cheese, bacon, onion and fancy breaded thing you’d make and call mac n cheese. He eats Kraft. Plain ol’ boring from the box, Kraft.”

Harry frowns at Niall, “I can make from the box macaroni and cheese.”

Niall backs Harry up against the kitchen counter, puts his hands on either side of Harry, looks up into his eyes and says softly, “you know you don’t owe us anything, right? Like you don’t need to work for your dinner or anything like that.”

Harry is still frowning and answers, “I need to contribute _something,_ Niall. Making dinner is certainly the _least_ I can do.”

Niall keeps looking in Harry’s eyes, finally sighs and gives in with a soft, “OK,” leaning his forehead against Harry’s. When he looks up, he sees Harry leaning down and kissing him softly on the lips. Niall’s lips automatically pucker and they both freeze when they touch. They’ve kissed each other plenty of times, but never on the lips. They stay frozen for what feels like several minutes, but is probably only about 5 seconds, before Harry backs away.

He immediately starts apologizing, “I’m sorry, Niall, I-”

“No,” Niall stops him. “Don’t. Please” Harry doesn’t know what he’s stopping. Is he stopping his apology? His excuse? He just nods his head. Niall backs away saying, “I’m going to change Theo into his pajamas and then I’ll see if you want any help with dinner, OK?”

Harry just says, “OK” softly, nodding his head. Harry doesn’t know what just happened. He just felt like he wanted to kiss Niall all of sudden. It was a soft and intimate moment. It felt right. He can’t deny he’s wanted to kiss Niall before but he doesn’t think it ever felt so natural before. Not that it matters how it felt to him if Niall doesn’t want it. Harry shook his head and focused on making the best Kraft macaroni and cheese he could.

Meanwhile, Niall was changing Theo and thinking almost identical thoughts to Harry. Only his inappropriate thoughts about Harry had been more frequent lately. It was getting harder and harder to deny them. He’d just have to try harder. He wasn’t going to lose Harry over a silly attraction. Everyone in the world was attracted to Harry, why should he be any different?

Niall focused on Theo telling him, “Uncle Harry is a great cook, Theo. He’s going to make the best mac n cheese you’ve ever had!”

“Love mac n cheeeeeese,” Theo said, jumping around in happy anticipation.

At dinner, Theo kept saying “So good ‘arry!” over and over. “So good!” Harry couldn’t contain his happiness. He was beaming throughout the meal. 

Niall couldn’t hide his grin either, even when Harry tried to rub it in that he made better mac n cheese than him. “See, Niall? I can make good boring macaroni! Even better than you!”

“I guess you’re right Harry. You’re just the best mac n cheese maker anywhere!” Niall said with a shrug and a grin.

When it was time for Theo to go to bed, he asked to sleep with Uncle Harry. Harry wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t know the rules about where Theo was allowed to sleep and if it mattered that he was sleeping with Niall. Would that be wrong to have Theo sleep with them both? Or should Harry just sleep in Theo’s room. Harry looked so concerned, Niall jumped in and answered, “I think that’d be OK bub, if you don’t mind sharing with me too.”

“Sleep with you too?” Theo asked.

“Yep, Uncle Harry has been sleeping in my room with me. You can sleep between us if that’s alright with you.”

“YES!” Theo said now extra excited to get to cuddle both of his uncles.

Niall and Harry both wore actual pajama pants and t-shirts, though neither of them were really happy about that part of the arrangement but they knew it was worth it to snuggle the 3 year old.

Harry got in bed first and held his arms open so Niall ran and jumped on top of Harry much to Theo’s amusement. “No Uncle Ni! I get middle!” He climbed up in the bed and wedged himself between the two men who gladly shifted apart. Theo put his head on Harry’s shoulder and started giggling. “Sleepover,” he said softly.

Harry laughed gently with him and said, “yes, Bub, sleepover just for you.” Theo fell asleep very quickly while Harry watched him carefully, rubbing his back. Niall took longer, watching his best friend and his nephew, again thinking about how perfect this felt.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Bobby took Theo home fairly early so Greg or Denise wouldn’t be tempted to come pick him up. Harry had fun going out the day before and really enjoyed his time with Theo, but he was also happy to have a relaxing day in again. He wasn’t actually used to having so many days that weren’t packed with appointments and to-do items but Harry was going to treasure each and every one of them he got.

Harry let Niall take over the TV, alternating between different sport matches. Bobby made breakfast and then had to go to work. Harry insisted on making lunch and Niall didn’t fight him after the mac n cheese conversation from the night before. Niall hadn’t been on social media since he’d posted their Twitter responses to the hacker, so he decided to take a couple of minutes to scroll through while Harry cooked their chicken for the chicken salad sandwiches he was making.

“Niall, where would Bobby keep fresh spices?” Harry asked, opening the refrigerator drawers and then looking around the kitchen.

Niall didn’t hear Harry. He was too busy looking at the photo of a bare chest on his Twitter. Again, a bare male chest Niall didn’t recognize. 

“Niall?” Harry asked, walking to him. “What’s got you so distracted?” Harry looked over Niall’s shoulder and saw the picture and immediately flushed.

Niall didn’t realize what was happening until after Harry started walking away. He immediately closed the app and walked over to his friend, apologizing “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to see that. I was just looking through Twitter and it was on my feed.” He put his hand on Harry’s back, trying to get a reaction.

Harry kept focusing on cooking,shrugged and mumbled, “it’s OK. It’s out there. I can’t expect you to not look.”

“No, Harry, it’s not OK,” Niall said emphatically. “Your private pictures aren’t anyone’s business. I have purposefully been avoiding going on social media so that I won’t see anything you don’t want me to.”

Harry looked up surprised. “You, you what?” Harry paused and kept staring at Niall’s face. “I mean, I just, I’m not hiding anything from you Ni. If you want to see any of my pictures, you can. I’m not, I mean, I don’t want to hide from you.”

Niall’s face relaxed as he realized he was stressing Harry out. He slid his hand down to Harry’s waist. “I’m sorry, Pet. I didn’t mean it like you were hiding from me. I’m just saying, it’s your business. I don’t want to invade your privacy.”

Harry stopped mixing and looked up at Niall, trying to read his face. Finally, he sighed, turned to Niall fully, took his hand and led him back to the table. He sat and pointed at the next chair for Niall to do so as well. Niall sat, biting his lip. “What do you want to know Ni?” Harry asked softly.

“Nothing,” Niall answer immediately. 

Harry continued to stare into Niall’s face, knowing Niall really did want to know something and just didn’t want to ask him. “Do you want to know who that picture was of?” 

Niall looked up at Harry’s face. Yes. He wanted to know so desperately. Instead he shook his head and looked back down at his fingers that were twisted together on his lap. “Your business,” he mumbled. “I only want to know what you want me to know.”

Harry reached across the open space between them, untangled Niall’s fingers and took his hand. Harry took a deep breath and said quietly, “I want you to know.”

Niall looked up at Harry again, bit his lip and then whispered, “OK.”

Harry took a couple moments to think about what he wanted to say. He stared at their joined hands as he said, “his name is Sam. We met at the gym actually.” Harry gave a self-deprecating laugh and started rubbing Niall’s fingers with his own. “We were taking the same spinning class and saw each other almost every day when I was in LA last time. When I came back, I took up the same class and we started going out after, getting smoothies or dinner or something.” Harry took a big breath before he continued. “He came back to mine a couple times. Clearly we, um, we,-”

“Stop,” Niall said, tightening his grip on Harry’s hand. “You’re not comfortable telling me this. That’s OK. You don’t have to.”

Harry looked up from their hands to Niall’s face. He looked so strong. He just wanted Harry to be comfortable, happy. Suddenly Harry realized, he wanted Niall to know because he didn’t want them to have secrets. He wanted Niall to know there was nothing between him and Sam. Just some meaningless sex. He didn’t know exactly why he wanted Niall to know so badly, but he did. “We slept together, Niall.” Harry said quickly. Niall maintained eye contact with Harry but visibly swallowed. It wasn’t surprising given the photos he had seen. “It didn’t mean anything, Niall. I mean, it meant _something_ I guess. It meant that I was lonely and horny and I just, I didn’t know what to do about it. So when Sam made it obvious he was interested, I took him up on it. We did it a couple of times but I’ve never seen him other than after our gym class. It’s not like we’re a _thing_ or anything.”

Niall answered softly, “Harry, it’s OK. You can sleep with whoever you want. You don’t have to justify it to me. It’s not like I didn’t know you slept with blokes.”

“It’s not that. It’s just, you’re my best friend, Niall. Really and truly. Even if this whole situation hadn’t happened, anyone in the world should have been able to see it. You’re always there for me and I feel like I’ve been a shit friend to you. I mean, what kind of friend am I that I didn’t go to your charity event, that I didn’t even tweet a link to your charity t-shirt. I didn’t even tell you about what was going on in my personal life.” Harry was biting his lip and queezing Niall's hand.

Niall moved from his chair and sat gingerly in Harry’s lap putting both of his hands on the sides of Harry’s head. He pulled Harry’s face up, seeing it covered in tears and breaking his heart. He leaned in and said softly to Harry, “you are _not_ a shit friend Harry. You’re my favorite person in the world. You’ve been busy. I don’t blame you for not going to the gala. It’s not like you were just sitting around avoiding me. You don’t tweet a lot. You don’t even _go_ on Twitter or Instagram unless someone reminds you to and you certainly don’t need to tell me every little thing in your life. It’s not like I tell you every time I fuck someone. When those bitches were prank calling me and hurting my family, you were there. You called as soon as I told you and you got your lawyer on it, even though I was already taking care of it. You are _always_ there when I ask you to be. Please, please, please don’t ever call yourself a shit friend to me again,” Niall begs. “You have no idea how much I love you Harry.”

“I love you too, Ni. You’re my favorite person too but I just don’t understand why you like me so much,” Harry said softly, looking at Niall’s lap instead of his face.

Niall didn’t pull Harry’s face up to meet his but he leaned in closer, wrapping his arm tighter around Harry’s neck. “Remember when I hurt my knee on stage?” Harry nodded. “Who helped me off the stage? And back to my hotel room? Who keep refilling ice bags for me and telling everyone else to shove off so I could have some alone time?”

Harry answered quietly, “I did, but it’s not like it was hard or like any of the other lads wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t claimed the spot first.”

“Who always checks with me after going through a crowd or shoves himself against me in an elevator so I can be grounded without obviously looking like I need it?”

“The other lads would do that too,” Harry mumbled.

Niall sighed. “Who got tickets and backstage passes to meet some of our idols and didn’t even think about taking anyone else?”

Harry shrugged and said, “no one else would have appreciated it as much as you. And it was partially selfish. I wanted to go too so it’s not like I just did it for you alone.”

Niall was starting to get irritated now. “Who calls my dad and checks in with him more than _I_ do? And video chats my nephew? And gets my mum a birthday present every year?” Niall sighs and says softly, “Harry Styles, that’s who. My best friend in the entire world who loves with all his heart and thinks of others probably more than he should.” Niall tilts Harry’s face to his so he can look in his eyes and continues, “Harry, you are more upset over how your pictures leaked for everyone else in them than you are yourself! I know you’re aware that this can affect your career and you haven’t even hinted that it’s a concern. You’re just an amazing human being and I’m lucky to have you in my life.”

Harry is smiling bashfully now. He never realized Niall saw him that way, selfless. “Thank you,” he answers, not sure what else to say. Niall leans his head on Harry’s temple and says, “any time, Pet. I’ll always tell you why you’re amazing if you need me to.”

Harry’s blushing lightly and isn’t sure where they go from here. He rubs Niall’s back and says, “hungry? I didn’t finish making lunch.” Niall is a little disappointed at the change of subject but happy that at least he’s smiling again. Niall just gets up from Harry’s lap and moves back to the other chair, watching Harry go back to work. “Also, Niall,” Harry says, mixing the chicken salad again, “you can look at any of the pictures that were released. In fact, I actually kind of want you to. I don’t want to look but I should know what’s out there and, you know, if you have questions, I’ll answer them. Anything.”

Niall opens his Twitter app and says, “OK, I’ll look for you but you don’t owe me any answers.”

“Niall!” Harry exclaimed roughly. “I want you to know, OK? I don’t know how else to say it. I don’t want to keep secrets from you and I don’t want you to feel like there’s anything I won’t tell you.”

Although Niall was just yelled at, he actually smiles at Harry’s attempt at bringing them closer. He puts his phone down, walks up behind Harry and wraps him up. “OK bestie,” Niall says with a wink.

Niall went back to the table and sat down to scroll through Twitter with Harry’s permission. He immediately saw the picture of Kendall wrapped in a blanket, obviously naked underneath. Niall asked, “so, you and Kendall? I know you said it was PR. Was it _all_ PR or was it PR with sex?”

Harry started scooping the chicken salad mixture over lettuce while he answered Niall, “honestly, I barely like her. We didn’t really have anything in common. So, definitely no sex. She called me dirty, Niall!” Harry ended with a whine.

“Then explain this picture,” Niall said, holding out his phone to Harry.

Harry walked over, looked at the picture and scoffed. “She sent that picture to me.”

Niall started laughing. “Seriously? She was trying to get her piece of Styles, huh?”

Harry shrugged, “I don’t think she really cared that much for me either. I think it was more the pressure of her family wanting the publicity.”

“Interesting,” Niall said nodding, as he continued scrolling.

Harry brought their lunch to the table and asked, “can I reciprocate?”

“You want to see my camera roll?” Niall asks with a teasing smile.

Harry chuckles and said, “not exactly. I was wondering if I could ask about Celine.”

“Course, Harry,” Niall said, shrugging one shoulder. “She was just a fling. Friend of a friend, hung out a few times. Found out she actually had a boyfriend and we stopped hanging out.”

“Why do the girls with girlfriends always go after you, Ni?” Harry asked.

“Good question,” Niall said, putting his phone down to eat. “I don’t know.”

“I guess they just realize you’re better than what they’ve got,” Harry said with a wink.

“Dork,” Niall answered with a laugh and a shake of his head.

They paused on the serious talk and focused on their lunches, chatting idly. 

After lunch, they went back to the TV, Niall picking a random comedy they’d seen dozens of times and pulling his phone back out. He started showing Harry the different pictures he found. The picture of Gemma sticking her tongue out at the camera with her boyfriend frowning behind her made Niall crack up. “She must be so mad this is out!” Niall said doubling over in laughter but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to stuff them back in. He was an idiot. He stopped laughing abruptly and looked at Harry quickly to see he was biting his lip but not saying anything. “I’m sorry, Harry,” Niall said putting his hand on top of Harry’s thigh. Harry just shrugged so Niall went on, “you know she’s not really mad, right? I meant, like, mad, like funny. This was totally a picture you could have just randomly decided to tweet just to tease her. The whole sibling thing, you know? Not something that actually hurts her.”

Harry said, “it’s fine, Ni. I know.”

Niall frowned and decided he needed to fix this fast, so he climbed into Harry’s lap completely, leaned back against Harry’s chest and started looking at the pictures together. He knew the next picture on the page was of Gemma’s cat and that wouldn’t offend anyone, except Niall. So Niall decides to tease Harry instead, “why, Harry? Why would you encourage Gemma by taking _more_ pictures of her cat? I swear Olivia has more internet time than most D list celebrities.”

That comment got Harry to chuckle and said, “she’s adorable, Niall and very smart. If you spent any time with her, you’d know.”

“Oh, I’ve met the cat, Harry. She was just as smart as every other cat out there. You know, mildly,” Niall mocked.

“Niall! Cats are very smart creatures! They just happen to be independent and don’t require the constant attention dogs do so people don’t always appreciate them as much.”

Niall decides it’s safe to move on now that he got Harry talking. He shifted slightly so Harry could see the phone better and immediately felt Harry’s hand on his waist, holding him in place. Niall leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder and stopped on the next picture, which was a black and white picture of his TV. “Really, Harry?” Niall shifted his head back to look at Harry’s face. “Your TV isn’t that impressive. It didn’t need a picture.”

Harry smiled and said, “mum wanted to see what I got.”

Niall laughed and said, “OOOOOOOK, Harry. The next picture was a sculpture of a woman holding her child’s hand.” Niall looked up at Harry for an explanation.

“I was asking my mum if she wanted it. I thought it was nice. You know, mother and child.”

Niall smiled at the thoughtfulness. “Did you get it?” he asked.

Harry shook his head, “no, she didn’t know where to put it. Thought it was too fancy for the house.”

Niall tried to scroll past the next picture quickly, shifting so his head was in front of Harry’s face but he wasn’t fast enough. Harry saw it, put his hand on Niall’s head to push him away and said, “it’s fine, Ni. You can ask.”

Niall swallowed and said quietly, “I don’t want to ask.”

Harry paused, leaned in and asked, “you don’t want to know who was taking the picture?” The picture was the one Deo had showed him, Harry under a sheet, very happy to see whoever was taking the picture.

Niall answered quietly, “I kind of don’t.”

Harry wasn’t sure what to say. Finally he went with, “why not?”

Niall wanted to be honest, that’s what the exercise was all about but how honest could he be? Could he tell Harry he was jealous? How would that mess up this bonding session? This friendship that they were in the process of strengthening?


	7. Chapter 7

Niall bit his lip and turned back to look at Harry’s face. Harry seemed to be trying to read Niall, understand what was going on but Niall knew he had no idea. Harry was oblivious to people liking him. He’d seen it before. So many people had flirted with Harry and, though he flirts back, he doesn’t know when someone wants more. Maybe he’s a bit jaded, thinking everyone wants to sleep with him because he’s famous but he holds on to his heart tight. People call him a womanizer and yet, Niall has never seen anyone so far from it. Harry is the sweetest, most genuine person who protects himself out of self-preservation, not out of any want to use people.

Niall knows he doesn’t want to lie to Harry. They’ve been doing such a good job of connecting and Harry would know if he’s not telling the whole truth. So, he looks down at his hands, reaches for Harry’s out of comfort, and looks back up at Harry’s face. “I, might, possibly, be jealous,” Niall whispers.

Harry’s heart stops. He licks his lips, moves his head to look around the room and figure out what to say. “I, um, jealous? I don’t understand,” he says softly.

“Really, Harry?” Niall scoffs. “You’re going to make me say more? That’s not embarrassing enough?”

Harry frowns. “It’s embarrassing to like, like me?” he asks, biting his finger tip.

Niall leans into Harry, still sitting in his lap, puts his forehead against Harry’s temple and says softly, “of _course_ it’s not the liking you part that’s weird. I mean, to like Harry Styles makes perfect sense. _Everyone_ should like Harry Styles. It’s just. You’re my best mate and best mates aren’t supposed to like each other like that. We’ve been so close for so long and I know you don’t feel the same so I don’t want to mess anything up. I don’t want to make things awkward. Please don’t avoid me because of this,” Niall rambles and pleads.

Harry answers, “don’t put words in my mouth, Ni.” He then lifts Niall’s chin up so Niall has to look into his eyes. He keeps them in that position for about 30 seconds, just exploring the emotions in the depths of each others eyes. Finally, Harry leans in, with his eyes still open, and softly kisses Niall’s lips. Niall’s eyes expand in surprise but he kisses back. It’s a simple peck really, but Niall’s insides are suddenly on fire. Does Harry like him back? Harry wouldn’t toy with his emotions. He’s too sweet to do something like that. Could they really have a chance together? Harry leans away, keeping his hand on Niall’s chin and says, “I’m not going to avoid you _ever_ , Ni. I’ll be honest, I’m surprised. I didn’t think, I mean, I didn’t expect you to feel that way about me.”

Niall realizes suddenly that he’s being let down. The peck was just Harry trying to relax Niall. Niall’s eyes start to tear up, and he pulls his chin from Harry’s grasp. He makes to get up but Harry wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him back. “Please, stop, Ni,” Harry says.

Niall can’t answer him. He can’t show his surprising heartbreak to Harry. He doesn’t know what to do. He desperately wants to be out of Harry’s lap but he can’t find the words to say it. He can’t push his way out of Harry’s arms without being violent and he’d never, _ever_ want to hurt him. So, Niall sits, and breaths deeply, tears falling down his face.

Harry’s hands shift, one of his arms wrapping around Niall’s chest, bringing his back to Harry’s front. He whispers in Niall’s ear, “Niall, calm down. Please let me talk. It’s OK, Love.” 

Niall just shakes his head back and forth, finally forcing out the word, “later.” But Harry doesn’t let go. In fact, he strengthens his hold, using his other hand to try to turn Niall back towards him. Niall whispers, “please don’t.”

Harry understands that Niall is panicking, that he thinks Harry is rejecting him but that’s not what he means to be doing. He just wants to talk about this. He’s not going to jump head first into something and risk their friendship without talking about it thoroughly first so he continues to hold Niall, shushing quietly to calm him down. “Please let me talk, Ni. I’m not rejecting you, Love. I just want to talk about this.”

Niall is not hearing Harry. He’s too focused on his own thoughts. In the middle of Harry rubbing Niall’s back and trying to shush him, in walks Bobby. He looks back and forth between his son and his son’s best friend with his mouth hanging open. He doesn’t know if he should intervene or just let them sort it out. The distraction of Bobby coming in is enough for Niall though. He’s able to push himself off of Harry’s lap and run to his bedroom, locking the door behind him.

Bobby looks at Harry and says, “I know you wouldn’t hurt Niall. I can’t _believe_ you’d ever hurt Niall, so what’s happening here?”

Harry doesn’t know how much to say. He doesn’t want to go around telling people, even Bobby, Niall’s personal feelings but he doesn’t want Bobby to worry either. “I’m not going to hurt him, Bobby. It’s just a misunderstanding. When he calms down we’ll talk and everything with be OK.”

Bobby nods his head and says, “I trust you, Harry and I know I refer to you as my son but if you ever _actually_ hurt Niall, you know I wouldn’t hesitate to throw you out.”

Harry nods, saying, “if I ever hurt Niall, I deserve it. I’ll be honest, yes, he’s hurting because of me right now but I promise it’s not what he thinks. We’re going to be fine.”

“He better be," Bobby says seriously, walking out of the living room to his bedroom.

Harry sits on the couch on his own for awhile. He knew Niall needed some time to calm down but he didn’t want Niall to keep thinking the wrong thing. He wanted to talk. He wanted to work this out so they were good. After about 15 minutes, Harry went to Niall’s room and knocked on the door.

Niall knew who it was and he was actually a little surprised it took Harry so long to follow him. He’d locked the door expecting Harry to race after him. Now that he’d had a chance to cry for a few minutes, he knew he couldn’t avoid Harry. He had to just take a big breath, wipe the tears, and face his best mate. If they could just talk this through, they could hopefully go back to being best mates. Harry was leaning against the door, waiting for Niall to give in and answer. Niall took his time, but made his way to the door after he felt like he looked presentable enough. He still looked like he’d been crying, but Harry knew he had, so there really was no reason to try to hide it. Niall paused again and opened the door. Since Harry was leaning on it and didn’t hear Niall approaching, he stumbled and fell to the ground, just inside Niall’s doorway. They were both stressed but still couldn’t help laughing at Harry once again ending up on the ground by mistake. Niall leaned over and offered his hand, helping to pull Harry up.

“Sorry bout that,” Niall said shyly, pulling his hand away once Harry was standing.

“Not your fault. It was dumb to lean on the door like that,” Harry shrugged and brushed himself off. They stood staring at each other, waiting for the other to say something when Harry realized this was his turn to talk. He reached across the open space between them and tried to take Niall’s hand but he pulled it away and looked at the ground.

“I, um, please don’t,” Niall said softly, holding his own hand.

Harry’s heart hurt. He made Niall not trust him. He’d hurt his best friend and he needed to fix this quickly. He stepped closer to Niall who, amazingly, didn’t back up and lowered his head so he could look into Niall’s eyes. Niall met his eyes cautiously. “Can we talk?” Harry asked. Niall nodded. “Can we sit down on the bed? This feels awkward.” Niall nodded and moved to the bed, scooting across to the other side so he could lean against the wall. He pulled a pillow over his lap as a protective barrier. Harry sat next to him with about two feet between them. They were both facing forward, scared to look at the others face.

“Niall,” Harry started softly. “I’m not saying 'no' to you. I’m just saying, I want to talk about this.”

Niall looked up at Harry, narrowed his eyes. He didn’t understand. “What do you mean? What do you want to talk about?”

Harry could tell Niall had faced him, so turned his whole body to Niall. “I mean, I _love_ you Niall. Us getting together is… well, it’s weird.” Niall flinched. Harry noticed and corrected himself, “I don’t mean you’re weird or anything like that. It’s just that we’ve never done anything like that before. You know, we’ve never fooled around or really hinted at being together.”

Niall’s mouth dropped open and he narrowed his eyes at Harry. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Harry’s own mouth dropped open. “What-”

“Harry, we have been dancing around each other the whole time we’ve known each other. The innocent kisses. The tickling.” Niall’s voice got louder as he went on. “The ‘I’d do Niall’ in front of the whole stadium, the world! How can you tell me you never saw this? Don’t misunderstand, I haven’t been pining after you this whole time but how can you say you never even _thought_ about this?” 

“I didn’t say I’d never _thought_ about it Ni. You’re fit. How could I not? I’m just saying, it was always fun and I didn’t think you had feelings for _me.”_

Niall is confused. “So, wait, what are you saying? You _do_ fancy me?”

“Yes, Niall. I fancy you,” Harry said calmly, staring straight into Niall’s eyes. “I fancy you a whole hell of a lot but as much as I want to try this out I’m scared to death to lose my best friend. I need you, Niall. You’re the only person in my life who tells me the truths I don’t want to hear. You don’t pander to me. You also lift me up when I need it. You’re who I call when I’m mad at someone else.” Harry pauses, bites his lip and asks, “who would I call when I’m mad at you? I don’t want to be mad at you.”

“I call Tommo or Liam,” Niall said bluntly.

Harry crinkled his brow and said, “call?”

“Oh, yeah, Haz. You piss me off sometimes. I need to vent about you so when I do, I call Tommo or Liam depending on what the issue is.”

“I piss you off?” Harry asks sadly.

Niall scoots closer to Harry and takes his hand. “You went on a yacht with Kendall Jenner. You didn’t call me when you came to London before filming in France. You _also_ didn’t call when you thought I was hooking up with Celine or anyone else. I got pissed. I thought you were forgetting about me so after each of those instances I called either Louis or Liam. Some of the time both of them got calls.”

“Who did you call after Yachtgate?” Harry asked contemplatively.

“That one was Payno. If I would have called Tommo, he would have told me to do either of two things: get laid or get over you. Liam assured me it was just PR. When I saw the pictures with your mom and Robin there though, he got another phone call. That time he told me you were a jerk. It made me feel better.”

Harry’s chewing on his lip like it’s his lunch. Niall reaches over and gently pulls Harry’s bottom lip out of his mouth. “Haz, we’re going to fight. Apparently you don’t realize it, but we fight now. I’m kind of an emotional person. If you can’t handle it, then maybe you’re right, maybe we shouldn’t do this.”

Harry glares at Niall. “I never said we shouldn’t do this. I just said I wanted to talk about it, Niall. I don’t want to just dive in. I want us to look at it together and figure out what it’d be like. How are you going to feel when I go off to LA if we’re together?”

Niall put his head on Harry’s shoulder, finally feeling a bit more calm as he understood better what Harry was thinking. “I’ll probably react the same way I do now. I’ll be hurt. I’ll be jealous. I’ll think your career is more important to you than I am. But maybe I’ll be smarter too. Maybe I’ll force myself to call you more often so that you can convince me I’m wrong.” Niall keeps his head on Harry’s shoulder but turns it so he can see Harry’s face, though it’s a bit distorted this close.

“I don’t want you to be hurt, Niall. I didn’t know you felt that way,” Harry said softly, sadly.

“I know you don’t, Harry. I think that’s why I never said anything. I know it’s not about me. You have a life there and I get it, I really do. I have a house there now too which, honestly, I probably bought to be closer to you, not that I’ve ever admitted that. Even when Lou called me out on it, I denied it but let’s face it, it’s probably more than a little true.”

“And would you want to go public or would you want to keep doing the fake girlfriend thing?” Harry asks.

It’s Niall’s turn to bite his lip. “I’m not ready for the world to know I like blokes yet. I’m not saying I won’t be but right now we’re both trying to do the whole solo thing and I spend so much of my time around golfers, I don’t want to make it weird.”

“It’s not weird to be into guys Niall,” Harry says offended.

“I know it’s not. I’m not saying that. It’s just, they’ve always thought of me as this like ladies-man and suddenly I’m not a ladies man. I’m a fucking bottom.”

Harry laughs out loud. “You’re a bottom, huh?”

Niall frowns, picks his head off of Harry’s shoulder and says, “you’re surprised by this?”

Harry leans his forehead onto Niall’s and said, “we can switch it up sometimes. I wouldn’t mind your cock in my ass occasionally.”

Niall groans and rubs his groin. “Can we not talk about this if we’re not actually going to do anything about it?”

Harry smiles and says, “who said we’re not doing anything about it? Even if we’re not sure about the whole dating thing, I’m definitely down with the shagging bit. I’ve always wanted to know what the Horan Charm is like in bed.”

Niall shoved Harry away from him but he bounced right back into him with a smirk on his face.

Niall starts laughing, partially out of nervousness and partially because Harry is a dork. “We’re not shagging right now, Styles. Like you said, we have to _talk_.”

“Ugh. My words always come back to bite me in the ass,” Harry said slumping down, away from Niall.

Niall smiles, leans back into Harry and says teasingly, “don’t worry, I’ll bite your ass.” Harry is just shaking his head with a small grin on his face. “Don’t act like you don’t love the idea!”

“Wouldn’t dream of lying to you, Ni.”

That comment made Niall stop smiling and remember what they were really supposed to be doing here. “So, back to where we were.. I mean, I was saying we’re going to fight and that’s fine. Couples fight. We just have to talk through what our biggest issues would be I guess. Make sure it’s worth it?” Niall turns to Harry questioningly.

“Can we go back to the LA thing? I feel like that’s a big one,” Harry says.

“Sure, yeah.”

“What can I do to make my trips easier? Can we try to maybe sync up our trips? You come with me? I mean I know you have your own responsibilities and you can go where you want, but like, if we planned better we could spend less time apart.”

“I’ll come sometimes but remember that whole not ready to come out thing? I think following you around might ruin that bit. Then again, it might already be ruined,” Niall said remembering the airport incident. “Those wolves asked me if I was your boy toy. So at least someone already suspects.“ Niall pauses and then looks Harry in the eyes as he says, "you know what? To hell with it. If they’re going to talk, we might as well let them talk about the truth for once!”

Harry raised his eye brows surprised at Niall’s exclamation. “So you want to come out?” Harry asked tentatively.

“Only with you and only if you want us to,” Niall said seriously.

Harry smiled and shifted over so he could be closer to Niall. He pulled Niall across his lap so he could hug him. “Thank you, Love but I’m not going to pressure you to come out.”

“You’re not pressuring me, Pet. I’m offering. I mean this whole going solo thing was supposed to be so we could be more ourselves, right? What’s more ourselves than being boyfriends for the world to see?” Niall said smiling at Harry, petting the side of his face. When Niall realized exactly what he’d say, he bit is his lip and stuttered, “I mean, you know, if that’s what we decide to do, the whole, you know, boyfriend thing.”

Harry leaned into Niall’s touch and said, “I think I’d like that but maybe we should just try the dating thing first before we jump into outing you. I mean, I’m fairly certain I’m outed already with those pictures but we don’t need confirm it yet.”

Niall thought about what Harry was saying. The fears he had about their friendship, the solo careers they were launching, coming out to the world and finally leaned in and gently kissed Harry. "I think I’d like that. I want it all but I don’t need any of it but you. Can we do this? Can we try it?”

Harry’s heart was racing at Niall’s words. “You need me?” he asked.

“Yes. So much. I need you in my life, whether it’s as my friend or my boyfriend. It doesn’t matter. I mean, it _does_ matter but the first, most important thing is that I don’t lose you.”

“Never,” Harry whispered.

“Then I want more. I know it might take some getting used to, we’ll have to work on our communication a bit. You know, tell each other things we might normally want to hide but I think we could be pretty damn good together.”

Harry smiled at Niall and said, “I agree. We _could_ be pretty damn good together. Hell, I think we already are pretty damn good together. Don’t you?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

That night at dinner, which Harry cooked, Niall and Harry held hands under the table and giggled at everything the other said. They didn’t tell Bobby outright about their dating status, but he could certainly tell.

“Everything alright boys?” Bobby asked, spooning his homemade soup into his mouth.

“Everything is great, Bobby. I’m sorry about earlier. It was just a misunderstanding, we’re good now,” Harry answered with a giddy smile.

“Good to hear it. I hate to see my boys upset. Can you do me a favor and not fight around me? I can’t handle it. Hurts you know.”

“How about we just don’t hurt each other at all? And maybe talk more when we’re starting to feel hurt?” Niall asked turning to Harry on the second question.

“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Harry said squeezing Niall’s hand.

Later that night, they’re laying in bed and Harry said, “I think I need to deal with these pictures. I need to finish seeing what’s out there and talk to the lawyer to see what I need to do next. I should probably talk to my management and see if they want me to address it too. Maybe do an interview or something.”

“Really?” Niall asked surprised. He was laying on Harry’s side, with his head on his shoulder. “You’d do an interview?”

“I mean, like you said, we’re going solo to be ourselves so maybe an interview to clear the air would help.” Harry twisted his body so he could hold Niall with both arms and said, “or maybe I should just wait and enjoy this for a bit.”

“You don’t have to choose, Pet. You can start the solo stuff and we can still be together. Happily together,” Niall said burrowing his head into Harry’s chest. “What would you want to clear up?”

“I guess I could tell them that that I like men officially. And that Kendall is ridiculous. That Olivia is an amazing cat. You know, all the important stuff.”

Niall laughed at Harry’s answer. “First of all, you’re not telling people you like men right now. They’ll know we’re together instantly. Second of all, I think the Kardashian’s would come after you if you said _anything_ about Kendall. Third, don’t lie about Olivia.”

“Soooooo, you’re saying I shouldn’t do an interview?”

“Probably for the best. How about you just live your life? Work on your music, when it’s time for the album to come out, you can do your promo then and hopefully the fuss around your pictures will have mostly gone away. And if not, we’ll come out,” Niall said with a shrug.

“I like how you’re so casual about it now,” Harry said with a smile, hugging Niall. “Like hey everyone, I’m gay and I’m dating my band mate. Don’t mind us.”

“Well, the more we talk about it, the more comfortable I am with it. We should probably tell our family and friends though. I don’t think we really need to tell Bobby. I get the feeling he caught on at dinner.”

“What do you think gave it away? The hand holding? The kissing or the googly eyes you were making at me all night?”

“Excuse me? _I_ had the googly eyes? Listen, Mr. Heart Eyes, you probably gave us away. Couldn’t let go of my hand for a minute to eat. It’s a good thing you didn’t make anything that had to be cut!”

Harry scoffed, “like that wasn’t planned.”

“You’re ridiculous, Pet.”

“You’re more ridiculous, Love.”

“I love you, Harry. Is it weird to say that when we’re just starting to date?” Niall asked looking up at his new boyfriend.

“I think it’d be weird if we stopped saying it since it’s been our norm for so long. I love you too, Niall.”


	8. Chapter 8

Niall and Harry spent another week in Ireland, just getting used to being boyfriends and staying out of the public eye. They dedicated more time to social media so they could prepare for the paparazzi and re-entering society. Harry discovered why his pictures had been uploaded to the cloud. When he got this phone, his assistant had set it up, thinking she was doing him a favor. She had called Harry crying after the photos had leaked and it took Harry almost two weeks to call her back after that initial call. She was worried that Harry hated her and that he was going to fire her but he assured her that it was an honest mistake and he didn’t hate her at all. Although she stopped crying by the end of the phone call, she still promised to do anything she could to make it up to him.

Harry also called everyone who had their photos leaked from his phone to offer a personal apology. Almost every person told him not to apologize, that it wasn’t his fault but he still promised them all that the cloud no longer existed and it wouldn’t happen again. He even called Kendall, despite Niall’s objections, and offered her apologies as well. Though she had yelled at him on his voicemail, she had gotten past the anger and forgave him for the mistake. She mentioned a job offer for her to model for some bedding sets so there was an up side for her. Harry didn’t have Sam’s phone number so he couldn’t apologize to him, but he added “attend spin class and say sorry” to his calendar for the day after his flight landed back in LA. Niall wasn’t ready to let him go but Harry didn’t want to hide anymore. He had writers and producers ready to work with him in LA and he didn’t want to have to rush his album. It was his baby already and he’d barely begun working on it.

“Don’t go,” Niall said, pouting as Harry packed his bag. Although he’d packed very little, they’d gone shopping in Dublin and Harry had somehow managed to fill up his regular luggage and an additional carry-on. 

Harry stopped folder his shirt, walked over to Niall and leaned his head down so his forehead touched Niall’s temple, wrapping his hands around Niall’s waist. “Love, we’ve talked about this. I need to go. I would love it if you came back with me though.”

“You’re right,” Niall sighed. “We _have_  talked about this and I can’t just follow you to LA, Harry. We’ve been MIA for almost two weeks here in Ireland after everyone saw us get on a plane together and I was holed up at your LA house for almost a week too. That’s three weeks that many people have decided we’ve been together.”

“Staying here longer wouldn’t help that, Ni.”

“They’d forget. Think we were just, you know, off doing our own things after awhile.”

“We can’t do our own things in LA?”

“UGH. Fine, OK. You’ll go to LA. I’ll go to London. We’ll be seen, we’ll do work. I’m sure I won’t miss you so much I have heart pain the whole time.”

Harry awed at his boyfriend. “You’re adorable. We’ll be fine. We made promises, right? We’re going to _at least_ text every day. We’re going to talk on the phone _at least_ every other day and FaceTime _at least_ once per week. I will send you snipits of my songs so you can tell me how great they are and you can send me pictures of your bum while you’re golfing.”

“Who is going to take those pictures Harry?” Niall asks.

Harry frowns at the realization. “Selfie bum shots.”

Niall laughs at Harry and with a fond smile says, “I’m going to miss you so much Pet.”

Harry leans down, holds onto Niall’s thighs and pulls him up around his waist while Niall wraps his legs around Harry’s middle. They’re now eye to eye as Harry tips his head forward to rub his nose against Niall's. “I’m going to miss you too, Love. So so much. And if it gets to be too much for either of us, we’ll take a break and fly to the other one, right?”

“Right,” Niall whispers.

They stood together for a few minutes until Harry’s alarm started going off on his phone. Niall had gotten him a new phone, with a new phone number, and set his own face as Harry’s background. The alarm was telling them that Harry’s car would be there any minute to take him to the airport. They decided a sappy goodbye at the plane was more than they could handle at this point in their relationship so this was the last time they’d see each other for awhile. Harry offered to buy a ticket to London for three weeks out but then he remembered a writing session he had planned with Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol and although he’d offered to reschedule, Niall told him to keep his commitments. Niall considered buying a plane ticket for two weeks out but thought that might be a bit soon given how much time they’d just spent together. Not that he didn’t want to see Harry, but he didn’t want to be _seen_  with Harry yet.

After their hushed goodbyes and sweet kisses, Harry left with tears in his eyes and hope in his heart. He hadn’t been in a successful long term relationship before. He’d had plenty of short flings and even more one night stands but he’d never loved anyone as much as he loved Niall. Either as a friend of as a lover. And the fact is, he’d never been with someone who knew him so well before even starting the relationship. He really wanted this to work.

When Harry goes back to LA, he dives back into work. He is followed by the paparazzi almost everywhere he goes and he offers very little in the way of talking points for them. He doesn’t confirm his solo album or One Direction. He doesn’t talk about the pictures that were leaked. He certainly doesn’t talk about Niall and the three weeks they spent together. He talks about the weather and the very nice meals he’s had at various restaurants he’s been photographed in and he tells them that, yes, he is still rooting for Manchester United. He’s not giving up his allegiance just because he spends a good portion of his time in America. 

Harry also talks to Niall in some form everyday. They’re very good about the text conversations. They text every little mundane thing they can think of just to stay in contact. “I had really good tuna sushi today,” one sends while the other responds, “Oooooooo I should have sushi for lunch.” And the first then says, “you have sushi everyday.” This is how they stay in contact. This is how they pretend the other is just at home waiting for them across town, not 5000 miles away doing their own thing. 

They’re not as good at the talking piece. It was harder than they thought to fit in an actual conversation every other day with their time difference and busy schedules. They tried scheduling them for particular times of the day, but then meetings would be setup for work and suddenly, it’s too late to call. Or too early to call. They were able to actually speak to each other about twice per week and when they did talk, most of their phone calls weren't all that great. 

“Can I call you tomorrow instead?” Niall texts Harry. They were supposed to talk at 9pm Niall’s time but there was a game on that Niall was watching with his friends at the local pub and he didn’t want to make up an excuse to duck out early. He wanted to talk to Harry, he really did, but these sometimes forced conversations weren’t very exciting for him. It was 1pm in LA so Harry was likely between meetings or recording sessions and had Jeff sitting over his shoulder so he couldn’t really speak freely.

Harry sighed and texted Niall, “yeah, sure” but was disappointed. He realized they weren’t keeping up their commitments and he’d tried to make today special. Instead of a phone call, he was going to do a FaceTime. He had taken the rest of the day off so he could talk to Niall for as long as he was available to make up for lost time. He’d gotten a new tattoo that he wanted to show him. It was a small camera on his “things i can’t” arm. Niall was worried Harry would stop taking pictures, so he thought it would make Niall smile and that was all he wanted. He wanted Niall to smile so bad. Instead, Harry went to his living room and went back to working on lyrics. His album was mostly written. He had some love songs and some songs about missing your loved one but he hadn’t quite perfected the best friend song he was insistent on creating.

Niall got Harry’s “yeah, sure” text and frowned. It’s not that Harry sent wordy texts but he expected a bit more. He stood up from the booth he sat in with his friends and excused himself. He went out back and called Harry.

“Hello?” Harry answered, surprised. He’d almost left his phone upstairs because he didn’t want to be reminded of their missed call.

“Hi, Pet,” Niall said softly in case anyone was nearby. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I’m OK. I thought you couldn’t talk?”

“I’m at the Pub with Deo, Willie, and some of the other guys. The Derby game is on and it’s running long. I didn’t want to duck out in the middle and have them asking what’s wrong with me. Besides, let’s face it, our phone conversations haven’t really been stimulating lately have they?”

Harry tries to shove down his disappointment. He knows Niall is right but he still gets excited every time they talk. “Yeah, OK. Um, I’ll let you go then,” Harry says glumly.

“No!” Niall says quickly to keep Harry from hanging up. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I just. I’m sorry. I miss you. I don’t know how to deal with just having these little chats with you and not actually having you here with me.”

“It’s fine, Niall,” Harry mumbles. “Go back to your friends. We’ll talk later.”

Niall’s chest is hurting. He can tell Harry is upset and he can’t end the call here. “Pet? Please, don’t go yet. I really am sorry. I’m not saying I don’t miss you. I do. So much. Do you want to tell me about about your day?”

“Aren’t you still at the pub?” Harry asks softly.

“Yeah, I’m out back. It’s fine. I want to talk to you. Tell me about your day.”

Harry bit his lip. He wanted to tell Niall about his tattoo but it didn’t seem like the right time so instead he said, “actually, I have to go. I was in the middle of a song and I don’t want to lose the momentum.” It was a lie but Harry didn’t feel like it was a bad lie. He was trying to let Niall off the hook, let him go back to his friends. 

Niall knew it was a lie. “Pet, please. I’m sorry. Remember when we started this thing and we said we’d talk about our feelings? Especially if the other person is doing something hurtful?” Harry made an agreeing sound. “I did something hurtful so I need you to tell me what an asshole I am.”

Harry chuckled. “You’re not an asshole Niall. I get it. You’ve got friends and a life. I don’t say enough. I talk about kale and the gym. It’s fine. I’ll work on it.”

If Niall thought his heart was hurting before, he had no idea what pain was then. “No, please,” Niall whispered. “Don’t say that. I love your kale stories and I never said you were boring, Pet. It wasn’t all on you. It was just, us. The way we interact on the phone sometimes is a bit mundane. Like we’re living in the same house and just chatting on our breaks at work or something. It’s not like a whole relationship, which it kind of is right now. I don’t.. I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m really sorry. Please don’t be upset with yourself. You can be mad at me if you want. I was a jerk.”

“Can we just talk tomorrow please?” Harry asked.

Niall closed his eyes to hold back the tears welling up and nodded his head before realizing he’d have to answer verbally. “Yeah, OK. Tomorrow. I love you,” he whispered, not because he was ashamed or afraid of being heard but because he couldn’t speak any louder.

“Love you, bye,” Harry said quickly.

Niall stared at his phone in his hand for a minute before he made a decision.


	9. Chapter 9

Niall went back into the pub and quickly said goodbye to his friends. “Willie, I won’t be home tonight or anytime soon. I have to go. Bye lads!” Niall yelled as he was running out the door. He called his assistant requesting a ticket on the next flight to LA with information on how long he had. He debated on whether he should go home and pick up some personal belongings or just use Harry’s stuff. It’s not like he’s never borrowed Harry’s toothbrush before. His assistant tells him there is a flight in 3 hours so he has enough time to go home, throw some clothes and his phone charger in his suitcase, and pack up his guitar before he’s out the door.

He tries to sleep on the plane. He knows Harry was going to get to sleep before he arrived in 13 hours but he just couldn’t calm his mind. He couldn’t believe he’d implied he was bored of Harry. He should have called him back. 

When Niall lands, he manages to slip through LAX without being spotted. He assumes that’s because of his middle of the night escape that no one saw him leaving London. He had his assistant get car service for him so he was able to escape quickly. He had the driver take him to Harry’s house, even knowing he probably wouldn’t be there. At this time of the day, Harry was probably at the studio working on his album. Niall figured this would give him some time to prepare what he wanted to say. 

Niall was very surprised when he let himself into Harry’s house to find him on the couch with a guitar. Niall hadn’t made much noise coming in so Harry didn’t even realize he was there. Harry was singing to himself quietly. Niall was able to catch some of the chorus: _when you give your heart away, what do you do if they don’t want it, what do you do if they don’t need it like they told you they would. when you give your heart away is it always a mistake or is there someone out there who can protect it._  Niall swallowed and felt his eyes welling up. He wanted to stop Harry. He wanted to tell him he was going to protect his heart but would it be rude? To accidentally spy and then surprise him in the middle of his song writing? Niall knows this will only get worse the longer he waits so he walks quietly into the room until Harry looks up and meets his eyes. Harry’s eyes expand at the site of his boyfriend in his living room.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

“I’m sorry. I was an ass and I didn’t know how to convince you I didn’t mean it without being here.” Niall moved forward, dropped his bag and guitar on the ground and knelt in front of Harry. “I missed you.”

Harry bit his lip and felt his eyes watering. He knelt down in front of Niall and threw himself into his boyfriend’s arms. “I’m sorry I got so upset.”

“No, Pet, you have no reason to apologize. This one’s all on me. Do you forgive me?”

“Yes,” Harry said quickly, leaning in to offer Niall a kiss he’d been waiting on for four weeks. It was slow and gentle. It was probing and exploring everything they’d missed. They each refused to be the first one to stop but eventually it became too much and they both needed real breaths of air. Niall pulled back, but kept his forehead on Harry’s.

“I think we waited too long,” Niall said carefully. “Maybe we need to set up some time limits on being away from each other.”

Harry laughed, “because we’re so good at following the other rules?”

“Maybe if we didn’t call them rules and just reminders?”

“Niall, you’re late for our reminder call. Is that what I’m supposed to text you?”

Now Niall is laughing. “I don’t know. I’m just saying, there’s got to be a better way. We’ll figure it out. We can do this.”

“Promise?” Harry asks.

“Yes, Pet. I promise.”

Niall was exhausted after being awake all night, so he dragged Harry upstairs to his room, pushed him onto his own bed and crawled right on top of him. Harry didn’t protest, just said, “did you miss me most as your pillow?”

Niall was already half asleep but managed to answer, “one of the big things, yeah. Sleep better with you.” Harry felt like he should have been slightly offended at the first part of the answer, but really the whole thing just warmed his heart. He couldn’t put into words how glad he was that Niall came to LA; came to him.

When they got up from their nap, it was almost dinner time and Harry offered to cook something for his sleep-deprived boyfriend but Niall told him no, they should go out.

“Niall,” Harry argued, “you know what’s going to happen if we go out. The world will know you’re here. They’re all going to want a piece of you. It’s too soon. You’ll feel like you have to leave sooner if they know you’re here!” Harry whined.

Niall walked up to Harry and put his hands on both of his shoulders. “Harry, Pet, it’s OK. We’ve spent too much time hiding. Let them think what they want. I just want to go out to eat with you. Is that so bad?” 

Harry sighed, “of course there isn’t anything bad about that. I’m just thinking about you. I don’t want you to get harassed any more than you already do.”

“Thank you for thinking of me but I know what I’m doing. I’ve done this whole fame thing as long as you have Pop Star. I can take em.”

Harry sneered at the nickname Nick Grimshaw had given him and groaned, “but you haven’t been _as_ harassed as I’ve been over the years.”

Niall glared at Harry and answered, “I know what you’ve been through Harry. I’ve got this.”

At that answer, Harry caved and got ready for dinner. “Where to?” he asked as he picked out his clothes.

“Nobu,” Niall answered. They both loved Japanese and he’d missed that restaurant in particular since he’d been in London. Harry had introduced him to it and, even though it was a paparazzi hot spot, he loved it. He heard Harry groan at his answer but he didn’t say anything in protest.

They managed to get in fairly easily and enjoy their meal quietly. Harry was starting to relax, realize they could go out sometimes without the press or their fans calling attention to it. He loved going out to eat and he wanted to share that with Niall. After dinner they weren’t so lucky. When they walked out of the restaurant, there were several photographers there waiting for them. Harry wanted to reach out and grab Niall’s hand and pull him through the crowd but knew the pictures that would come of it would cause more hassle than it was worth. So instead, Harry lowered his head and went towards his car. He could feel Niall right behind him. He tried to ignore everything the paps were saying but one question stuck out, “Harry, are you and Niall dating? You look like a good couple.” It wasn’t judgmental. It just sounded like an honest question and statement.

Before Harry could answer, he felt Niall’s hand in his and his boyfriend’s answer of, “thank you.”

Harry turned around with wide eyes as his mouth dropped open, a gasp escaping before he could hold it back. Harry didn’t know what to say. He was frozen to his spot in the ground as Niall smiled at him, so wide his teeth were gleaming under the moonlight. His eyes sparkled with surprise and joy and Harry had never felt so much happiness before. It was falling out of Niall in buckets and filling him up.

Instead of trying to come up with any words, Harry let Niall continue to lead their coming-out party. Niall raised his eye brow at Harry in question, making sure he wouldn’t object to him continuing. When Harry didn’t respond, he moved forward slowly and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Niall then pulled away and started towards Harry’s car, with Harry tripping over Niall’s actions along the way.

Niall took the wheel since Harry didn’t seem to have all of his faculties working. The drive home was quiet while they both thought about what had just happened. Niall was starting to get scared that he’d moved too fast for Harry. When they pulled into Harry’s driveway, Niall put the car in park and slowly turned to Harry. He was staring at Niall already with a dazed look on his face.

“Pet, are you OK?” Niall asked cautiously.

“I’m fantastic, Ni. I just can’t believe you did that. That you love me enough to come out and kiss me for paparazzi!”

Niall leaned into Harry, relieved that he wasn’t upset. “I always loved you enough to kiss you in front of anybody. Maybe it was me that I had to grow to love more. You helped me you know.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, confused.

“You love me so I know I’m worth loving. And if you’re willing to let me love you, I’m absolutely willing to let the world know. I’m kind of dying for everyone to know really. I want them all to be jealous of me. And I know they will be. I’m a _very_ lucky man,” Niall said, never losing his smile.

Harry’s eyes are tearing up and he’s overwhelmed with feelings. “I love you so much, Ni. If I’ve ever done anything in my life that matters, helping you love yourself is the most important. You deserve all the love in the world. You’re so strong and just lovely,” Harry said breathlessly.

“You make me strong,” Niall said simply.

“You’re being so cheesy. I thought that was my thing,” Harry said laughing.

“You’re rubbing off on me. Besides, when I’m cheesy, I can practically see your heart beating out of your chest, so it’s totally worth it,” Niall said with a smirk.

“So, you’ve really got _No Control_  around me?” Harry said with a wink.

“That doesn’t work, Pet. I didn’t say I had N _o Control_ , I said you’re _Perfect_ and we are definitely _Something Great_ together.”

Harry answered, “you’re my _Home,_ ” keeping it sappy.

“I want you to _Rock Me_ ,” Niall said raising his eye brows.

“ _I Would_ ,” Harry said with a smirk.

“I could do this all day,” Niall said teasingly. “I could also _Kiss You_  all day.”

“Cheeseball.”

“And you love it.”

“I love _you_.”


End file.
